Value of a Pearl
by Constant0123456789
Summary: Jaden finds out there's a girl with psychic powers being held in a government research facility. Being a nice guy, Jaden decides to break her out, but someone else wants her as well, for darker reasons. Full summery inside.
1. Chapter 1

Jaden is experiencing some down time and trying to get Pharaoh to exercise when he hears about a girl with psychic abilities who's been locked up for testing. Realizing that all she needs is a little teaching, Jaden plans to break her out. After running around the city gathering information, Jaden is able to find the girl and get her out, but someone has other plans for her. Is Jaden making the right choice by trying to teach her to control her powers, or are they too much even for him?

Thanks to Naruto-Superman4 for helping me with editing and my story line.

Chapter 1:

True Pearl

Jaden sighed contently and looked around at the bustling activity and the tall buildings, taking in the sights. It was a beautiful day in Montana: the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the air was lovely and warm. Jaden loved summertime, especially here in the United States, where it was much warmer and active than in Japan. Jaden's smile faded as the rope from his heavy travel bag dug into his left shoulder. He pocketed his phone for a moment and set the bag down, rubbing his shoulder with his free hand. After a bit, he picked up the bag again and slung it over his right shoulder in a manner similar to doing an Around the World trick with a yo-yo. The bag thumped against Jaden's back and a discomforted *meow* came through the weatherproof material. A large, ornery head with Brock eyes* (straight lines in place of conventional eyes) poked out of the bag. It *meowed* again, indicating its displeasure, but Jaden took no notice.

"Serves you right for the imprint on my sore shoulder," he chastened. He knew better than to indulge the overweight feline in any way, shape, form or fashion by now. Jaden took his phone back out of his pocket, and while navigating the touchscreen to turn on Google Maps, he craned his neck to look at the displeased face and added, "Seriously Pharaoh, lose some weight. I'm tired of being at half-breath every time I finally get somewhere. Actually, you know what?" Jaden dropped the bag, causing Pharaoh to mewl in complaint again, and took the ornery ball of fur out and placed him on all fours. "From now on, you're walking everywhere we go. About time you got some exercise."

Pharaoh mewled again, complaining. A glowing yellow ball of light emerged from his mouth and floated around Jaden's head, taking the form of former Duel Academy Professor Lyman Banner.

"Oh, come on Jaden," he said, his voice full of sympathy for his beloved pet. "Don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

"No," replied Jaden bluntly. "I'm constantly carrying him around in what's already a twenty-pound bag full of supplies while he does nothing but eat my food and take up space in my bag, and quite frankly I'm starting to get sick of it, Banner. Your cat's become a nuisance lately, and I don't always have the time to put up with it, _especially_ when there's someone out there who might need me. So from now on, Pharaoh has to pull his own weight, literally. If he doesn't like that, he can either _lose_ some of it, or he can leave." Pharaoh looked like he might start crying at any minute, but Jaden knew he was faking it in order to get sympathy. However, despite the tone in his voice, Jaden didn't really want to see Pharaoh leave. Like Banner, he had grown fond of the cat and, despite the nuisance he could be sometimes, Jaden had learned that it was important to have a travelling companion. In a way, they both looked out for each other; Pharaoh and Banner were good friends who kept him company, and Jaden made sure that Pharaoh was taken care of. But, Pharaoh did need to lose some weight.

Anyway, like he said, he didn't have time for this right now: somewhere out there, a girl who could see Duel Spirits was being held in a government facility against her will, being forced to take menial tests to prove that she was apparently psychic or something. Jaden remembered seeing it on the news.

**(Flashback)**

Jaden paused in front of an electronics store to watch the many TV screens playing the same thing; a replay of a Duel from a few months ago. It was a news report on a man who'd been the absolute best in the area, but he'd lost to a simple little girl and disappeared. Jaden had seen the Duel when it had happened over the TV and had thought that the girl would win. He'd been right as always, but the man was so torn up and angry over it, he'd left without a trace. It didn't make any sense to Jaden; after all, losing once wasn't the end. It was a lesson he'd had to learn a long time ago when he had been beaten by the duel spirit known as Kaibaman and his friend Aster Phoenix. But this man didn't like to lose so much that he let it get to him.

"…and there's still no sign of the Duelist known as Oberon since the incident," the reporter said. "Back to you, Pete."

"Thank you, Megan," Pete said. "In other news, a seventeen-year-old girl was discovered by police to have psychic abilities. Linda Paul has the story for us, Linda?"

"Thanks Pete," Linda said as the scene changed again. "The girl was discovered Tuesday morning after a call for help came from a neighbor, who reported seeing explosions near Sullivan's Park, where the girl and a friend were playing the popular trading card game Duel Monsters when things got out of control, with the girl's monsters _allegedly_ coming to life and inflicting _real damage_. The boy she was playing with was taken to hospital that night and is still recovering."

Jaden's brow furrowed. _"It's not 'playing with,' lady,"_ he thought, _"it's _Dueling_, get it right." _But the broadcaster continued on regardless.

"The girl was arrested by police and handed over to scientists for testing. Scientists are prepared to run several more tests on the girl to see if her telekinetic abilities can be duplicated or harnessed. More on this story as it develops, this is GHB News," the woman named Linda finished her bit and the broadcast went to commercial. Jaden's brow set in a hard line.

"I don't like where this is going," he said quietly. Yubel appeared next to him.

"What they're going to do to her sounds painful," she observed. She saw Jaden's expression soften by thinking about someone else in pain. When she'd asked him about that, he'd used a strange word to describe it called empathy. Despite her time with Jaden, Yubel still didn't quite understand it.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, although part of her felt she already knew the answer.

Jaden took a deep breath. "Part of me wants to go in and bust her out of there," he admitted, "But the thing is, I'd be breaking into a government facility, which I'm assuming in this country is a felony, for the sake of taking that girl out of it, which in the eyes of the law is kidnapping. And since I'm a foreigner, they'll be quick to deport me."

Jaden looked around for a place to sit down. Seeing a park across the street, he slung his bag over his shoulder, crossed the street and sat down on a bench by a pond where he could see ducks swimming back and forth hoping for some bread crumbs.

"And furthermore," he added, "I don't know where they're holding her. I wouldn't know where to _find_ her." He looked downwards and supported his chin with his hand. "I'm not sure I'd even know where to start." Yubel looked at Jaden and gave him a genuine smile, (which for her was a big deal)

"Buuuuuuut," she started Jaden's sentence for him. Jaden looked across the table at the demon sitting across from him and humored her.

"Buuuuuut," he said, imitating her. "That girl's being held in an unfamiliar place, being probed at by strangers and _most likely_ isn't allowed to see her loved ones. On top of that, assuming from what I saw from that broadcast, that area had an erratic scorch pattern, suggesting an uncontrolled explosion, which means this girl probably can't control her abilities very well. So to recap, she's cut off from the outside world, surrounded by strangers who are constantly poking and prodding her, probably separated from her cards since some would think _they_ caused the blast, and to top it all off, she's developing these strange powers that she can't control. If I were her, I'd feel lonely, scared and miserable." He looked down sadly, ignoring the quacking of ducks that had come to see if he had any food for them and Pharaoh, who had decided that they looked like snacks.

"I've _been_ lonely, scared and miserable Yubel, and it's one of the worst combinations of feelings a person can have, so when I think of that lonely, scared and miserable girl, I can't just sit around and do nothing." Jaden made eye contact with Yubel, his past experiences showing. "I want to help her," he said quietly.

Immediately, his eyes shut tight. "What am I saying?" he asked himself. "I just said I can't just sit around and do nothing, but that's _exactly_ what I'm doing right now." Jaden watched Pharaoh for a moment as he tried to chase the ducks, but ended up flopping around because of his weight.

"What are you waiting for?" Yubel asked suddenly. "If you want to help this girl then you should." Jaden nodded. Yubel was right. So, after calling Pharaoh, Jaden headed deeper into the park. Although it was packed with people, Jaden managed to find a secluded spot near an old oak tree, far enough away from other people. Pharaoh followed him, and Jaden knelt down to him. "Alright Pharaoh," he sighed. "I need to talk to Banner. Let him out, please." Pharaoh just sat there and licked his paw. Jaden took a deep breath and counted to ten. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Pharaoh. Take your pick."

The cat meowed and opened his mouth, allowing Banner to emerge as a ball of light that took the form of the former Professor.

"Hello Jaden," he greeted warmly, waving his hand. Jaden nodded a greeting.

"Hey Banner," he said, "I need your help. I need to find someone who's trapped somewhere, but I don't know where to start looking."

"Well," said Banner, "Who are you looking for? Is it anyone we know?" Jaden shook his head. "It's an American girl who can see Duel Spirits... at least, I think. She was in the news where they said she was psychic, able to make the monsters come to life and inflict real damage. They arrested her and took her away somewhere."

"And knowing you, you want to help her."

"Yeah."

"Well," said Banner, "Are you aware that you'd be breaking into a government facility, and that that's a felony?"

"Yeah, I know."

Banner raised an eyebrow. Something didn't add up.

"Why do you want to break in and bust that girl out?" he asked. "For all you know, she might be unstable. They probably locked her up for a good reason, so if you broke in and set her free, you could possibly be setting a menace onto society." He folded his arms. "So if you really think that you should do this Jaden, you'll have to find out whether or not she's being held under duress. Which she probably isn't, given that a government never does anything without a good reason."

Jaden snorted. "People in _this_ country don't seem to believe that." Banner smiled.

"When promises fail, what else is left?" he asked. Jaden looked at him quizzically and shook his head.

"Whatever," he said. "I need to make a plan. How can I find out whether or not this girl's being held against her will?"

"You can always track down her family members and talk to them," suggested Banner. "Start there." Jaden nodded.

"Thanks Banner. So I'll just ask around for her name, and from there I'll contact any relatives she has and try to see what they know." He paused suddenly, something dawning on him. "But wait a minute, if this girl's being held in a government facility, she's probably kept hidden from everyone, given what she can do and all. If the government wanted to protect its people, they would probably keep her locked up and not give away any information as to her whereabouts, right?"

"Probably," agreed Banner.

"Then for all we know, her family members might not know either," Jaden frowned. "So how am I supposed to find her?"

Banner smiled. "Let's go with the asking her family plan first," he said. "Remember, our first task is finding out whether she's being held under duress, not finding out where she is. That part comes second. You know, if there needs to be a second part." Jaden nodded his expression serious.

"Time to go to work," he said.

Having no computer on him due to a lack of space in his bag, Jaden popped in quickly to one of those internet cafes to do a little Googling. Once the search bar came up, Jaden typed in "Psychic Duelling Girl" and hit enter.

The first link brought him to the homepage of a newspaper site, the Daily Public. Jaden's smile widened as he found the name of the person he was looking for: the article referred to the exact same incident he'd seen earlier that day, and it talked about a supposedly psychic girl named Pearl Lite who was arrested and taken to a government facility for testing after playing a game of Duel Monsters with a friend, a Mr. Justin Donovan. Jaden rested his chin on his hand.

"_Should I visit Pearl's friend, too?"_ he asked himself. _"It might be helpful to get an idea of what I'm working with here. If Pearl's friend can vouch for her, then maybe I can get a better idea of whether or not I should spring her._

The article mentioned that the girl lived in Great Falls, one of Montana's three Metropolitan Statistical Areas. Jaden opened up Google Maps and typed in the name.

"_Right there,"_ he thought, _"That's where we'll go."_

**(End of Flashback)**

So now here they were, in Great Falls, Montana, searching for Pearl Lite's best friend and mother in the hopes that they could perhaps give them some insight as to whether or not they should rescue her. Jaden eyed Google Maps on his phone. Now that they'd gotten to Great Falls, they had to find out the name of the hospital where Pearl's best friend, Justin Donovan was. Jaden paused to think amidst Banner's protests about his treatment of Pharaoh.

"_How can I get the information I need?"_ Jaden asked himself. He noticed a group of high schoolers nearby and thought, _"Perfect. I'll visit all the high schools in the area and see if Pearl and Justin are enrolled there."_ Jaden held down the button on his phone and spoke into it. "Siri, locate all high schools in Great Falls."

An hour and a half later, Jaden was bounding up the steps to Great Falls District High School. A quick Internet search for each high school that Siri had pulled up led to him finding this one to be where both Pearl Lite and Justin Donovan were enrolled at. Jaden entered the school, and after getting directions from a willing group of students, thanked them and set off for the Main Office. Jaden opened the door and stepped in and warmly greeted the stout, middle-aged woman behind the desk.

"Hello," he said, "My name's Jaden Yuki, and I'm looking for Justin Donovan. I know that he's been admitted to a hospital after what happened to him, so I was wondering if you knew which hospital it was."

The woman behind the desk smiled back at him and asked "With all due respect Mr. Yuki, no one's ever seen you around here before, and then all of a sudden, you come barging in. May I ask why you're looking for Mr. Donovan?"

"We're old buds," replied Jaden, improvising on the spot. "We haven't seen each other ever since I left for Duel Academy three years ago, and I was hoping to get in touch with him after all this time."

The woman nodded her head. "Oh, okay. If you're looking for Justin, Mr. Yuki, he's been admitted to Great Falls General Hospital. It's right in the heart of the city, easy access by bus. I hope you two manage to reconnect."

"Me too," replied Jaden. "And thank you so much for your help."

Another hour bus ride later, Jaden was craning his neck to look at the big building that stood before him. Checking his watch, he prayed that visiting hours weren't over, and he jogged quickly across the parking lot to avoid blocking any cars from getting in or out. The nurse at the front desk was especially warm and kind, although also terribly busy, so when Jaden asked to see Justin Donovan, she was quick to tell him which floor and room he was on. Jaden headed into the elevator thinking that that had been almost too easy.

While in the elevator, Professor Banner appeared to him and asked, "Do you have any idea how you're going to introduce yourself to this boy? Despite what you've been telling everybody, he has no idea who you are."

"Don't worry about that," said Jaden. "I'll think of something."

"Well, what are you going to think of?"

"I don't know," replied Jaden. "But I'm thinking about just being square with him."

The elevator stopped at the tenth floor, and Jaden got off. Five minutes later, he located Room 1019 and knocked, just to be polite. "Come in," came a male voice. Jaden entered the room to see a raven headed boy about his age in a hospital gown sitting upright in a hospital bed. He took one look at Jaden and asked, "Who are you?"

Jaden cleared his throat. "Hello Justin, my name's Jaden Yuki. Don't be alarmed, because I'm just here to ask you some questions about your friend Pearl."

The black-haired boy blinked before asking "Why do you want to know?" Jaden paused, remembering telling Banner that he planned on being straight with Justin.

"I'll be straight with you," he said, "I think the testing that the government's doing on Pearl might be against her will. And," he exhaled here, "If it was, I was thinking about busting her out."

Justin looked at him as if he was crazy. "You do know that's a felony, right?"

"Maybe," replied Jaden, "But I can't sit back while someone's subjected to loneliness, discomfort and fear when she just needs to gain a little control over what she can do."

"You mean make Duel Monsters become real?" asked Justin.

"Precisely," Jaden confirmed. He noticed that when Justin had responded, that his voice made it seem like he was mad at Pearl for putting him in the hospital. "Are you mad at her for putting you in here?" he asked.

Justin shrugged. "Not really. But I would like to get the hell outta here as soon as I can. Hospitals suck."

"Tell me about it," Jaden agreed. He remembered all the different times he'd ended up in the Infirmary at Duel Academy, where he'd had nothing to do but sit in bed all day. It hadn't been too bad, but being up and about was definitely preferable to it.

"I've been told I should be let out tomorrow morning, but it doesn't help me now," Justin said. Then, all of a sudden, Justin asked him, "Why are you willing to commit a federal crime just to help Pearl? I mean, it's nice of you to be willing to do it, but if you do, you could get in serious trouble, man."

Jaden exhaled and sat down beside the bed. "Justin, what Pearl has is a gift," he explained. "And there are many others out there like her who can do what she can. I'm one of them."

Justin looked skeptical. "You can make Duel Monsters come to life?" Jaden nodded. "Here," he offered. "I'll show you." He reached into his travel bag and pulled out a Duel Disk. Strapping it on, he engaged it and placed his Winged Kuriboh card onto the Monster Card Zone. Within a second, the little furry creature appeared out of nowhere. Justin wasn't impressed; for all he knew, Jaden was using Solid Vision to make Winged Kuriboh appear.

"Winged Kuriboh," said Jaden, "Why don't you go over there and give Justin a hug or something?"

Immediately the little fur ball went over and began snuggling against the rather awed-looking boy. "No way," he said, running his hands through the creature's tiny fur. "I can touch him." He turned to Jaden. "You can't do that with Solid Vision holograms."

"No you cannot," Jaden agreed. "So you see, Justin, I think that what happened to you here is the result of Pearl not being able to control her power."

The other boy gave a look of understanding as he kept petting Winged Kuriboh. "Um," he asked, "This might be a weird question, but does this little guy like being scratched anywhere?"

"The top of his head," Jaden offered, smiling. "He _loves_ that." Justin scratched Winged Kuriboh in the spot Jaden indicated and the little creature responded enthusiastically.

"Okay!" said Justin, as Winged Kuriboh began smothering him, "You can call him back now!" Jaden took the card and placed it back in his Deck Box, then took off his Duel Disk and placed it back in his travel bag.

"Justin, I just need to know," said Jaden. "Do you know where they took Pearl?"

"Nah, sorry," admitted the raven headed youth. "But there's a military base near here called Fort Ulysses. Maybe she's there. It makes sense for her to be, since that's the closest base near here."

"Thank you for your time, Justin."

"No problem, man. Nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too." Jaden picked up his travel bag and headed to the door before wheeling around. "Almost forgot to ask," he said, "Do you know where Pearl's family lives?"

Justin gave him the address and Jaden thanked him before exiting Justin's room. He entered the elevator and pressed the first-floor button.

"_Now all I have to do is ask Pearl's mom some questions about her,"_ Jaden thought, _"And soon I'll know whether or not to break her out of Fort Ulysses."_

"It could be dangerous, Jaden," warned Banner, appearing beside him again. "If it's a military base, you'll have extreme difficulty getting in. And there's a good chance that you'll get caught."

"Not if I'm careful," Jaden retorted. He exited the elevator and walked out the automatic doors.

Pearl's mother lived at 233 Mountain Way Boulevard, which was up a steep hill. Jaden cursed silently to himself as he walked up the incline. The hill wasn't steep, but the incline did go on for quite a while, and Jaden's legs were beginning to hurt, and even without Pharaoh in it, his travel bag was digging into his shoulder. Behind him, Pharaoh lagged his rotund frame, less attuned to the gradient than Jaden was. He meowed in complaint, but once again, Jaden paid him no mind.

"Come on, Pharaoh," he said sternly. "Like I said, you need exercise. This'll be good for you." Pharaoh meowed again, this time angrily. If he could've scratched Jaden right then, he certainly would've done so.

Eventually, they reached the top of the incline and Jaden began looking at all the different house numbers that would tell him which direction Pearl's house was.

"C'mon, this way," he motioned for Pharaoh to follow him, and the big cat meowed in complaint once more as Jaden began jogging towards the house marked number 233. Jaden jogged up the driveway and was soon knocking on the door. Only now did he pick up Pharaoh, so he wouldn't go running into the house uninvited.

A nervous-looking woman who looked like she was in her thirties with blonde hair answered the door. "I'm sorry," she said, not recognizing the strange boy before her. "Can I help you with something?"

Jaden considered the question. "Well," he began, "I'm mainly here to help _you, _Mrs. Lite_. _If you can provide me with some information, I'll see what I can do to help Pearl."

Mrs. Lite's eyebrows shot up at the mention of her daughter's name. "Come in, please," she beckoned, opening the door. Jaden entered and immediately took off his shoes.

"Is it alright?" he asked before doing so. Pearl's mother gave him the okay, and after taking his shoes off, Jaden and Pharaoh followed her to the kitchen.

"Would you like some coffee?" asked Mrs. Lite, but Jaden politely declined.

"I'm here to be a help, not a bother," he said with a smile on his face. Mrs. Lite nonetheless took a mug out of the cupboard and poured herself some.

Sitting down at the table, she asked, "You're here to help my daughter?"

Jaden nodded. "That is, if I can find out whether or not she's being held under duress. If she doesn't want to be where she is, Mrs. Lite, I plan on springing her from where she is. That is, if you know where."

Pearl's mother shook her head, indicating she didn't, which aroused Jaden's suspicion. _"So wherever Pearl's being kept," _he thought, _"They haven't told her mother, which means they have no intention of letting them communicate."_

"Do you know about Pearl's abilities, ma'am?" Jaden asked politely.

Mrs. Lite gave a small smile as she remembered. "She was about six, and my husband had just bought her her first Deck. Immediately she wanted to try it out with some of the neighbor kids, but at that time it was too late in the evening, so her father offered to Duel her." Mrs. Lite paused here and took a long sip of her coffee before continuing. "She ended up putting him in the hospital." Mrs. Lite's coffee cup began shaking. "She was afraid of herself for a while after that. Even after Harold got out of the hospital, Pearl was afraid to play Duel Monsters for a while for fear she would hurt somebody." Mrs. Lite put her coffee mug down, frowning. "Those were some troubling times for her. We actually had to keep her away from other children for fear she might inadvertently hurt them. She understood at first, but over time, wanted to be able to play against other children. So, when Harold and I were sure that she could control her powers, we allowed her to sign up for a local tournament," she continued. "But she wasn't entirely in control of whatever it was that she had yet. She had to forfeit her Duel because she was starting to lose control of her powers." Mrs. Lite lifted her coffee mug back up to take another sip.

"_So this has happened before," _thought Jaden. "What happened after that?"

Mrs. Lite gave him a very pained look. "We tried to help her control her abilities," she said, "But it took a toll on Harold and I. I mean, how do you raise someone who can make monsters come alive and _do _what they can? Harold and I have been through several therapists and marriage counselors trying to make it work, but we're still committed to it regardless."

"Anything else I should know about?" asked Jaden. "I mean, if Pearl wasn't allowed to have any friends while growing up, what about Justin Donovan?"

"Justin and Pearl met in middle school. She showed him what she could do and he wasn't afraid of her," Mrs. Lite allowed herself to look relieved. "So they became friends, and he tried to get her to play the game with him, but every time he challenged her, Pearl would say no, because she'd be afraid that she'd hurt him." Mrs. Lite reached across the table and took Jaden's hand. "Pearl doesn't like having her abilities," she told him. "She considers them a curse because she thinks they make her a freak. She told me over and over that all she wants is to be normal."

This came as a surprise to Jaden. Back home, when someone uncovered their ability to see and interact with Duel Spirits, it wasn't that big a deal. It was even smiled upon and seen as a good thing. No one ever really gave that much thought about how it would affect their lives. Maybe some people would think they were eccentric for seemingly talking to nothing, but it wasn't cause to judge a person. But over _here, _it seemed that being able to see Duel Spirits was a bad thing, and anyone who discovered their ability to see and interact with Duel Spirits had cause for alarm, not the kind of joy that Jaden had experienced when he first discovered his ability. Jaden remembered the first time he'd encountered a Duel Spirit. He hadn't been afraid of it; in fact, he'd rejoiced that he could do something so wonderful and spectacular.

But Pearl lived in _fear _of her power, and was afraid of it because she knew that it had the potential to hurt people. Jaden frowned, remembering how he'd used his own gift for that purpose deliberately as the Supreme King. He frowned even more when he realized that maybe Pearl was _glad _to be where they were testing her. Maybe she was hoping that the government could find a way to take her powers away. But Jaden knew that something like that couldn't just be taken away on a whim. When someone could see Duel Spirits, they had that power for life, whether they liked it or not.

"Mrs. Lite," he began, "Do you think that Pearl would _want _to be rid of her power?"

Mrs. Lite took a while before answering; when she did, Jaden was again surprised.

"No," she said finally, "I don't think so. I remember when Justin came over and said he had something for Pearl. He told me that she'd seen it in a shop and felt like they were just calling to her. He'd gotten her a Deck of cards that she'd told him was filled with Duel Spirits. He thought maybe they could help her." Mrs. Lite sipped her coffee. "I didn't believe it myself, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a complete relief to me when Pearl opened up the cards. She looked so happy and it was like life turned around for her all of a sudden. When she Dueled, she was happy, and she was able to control her abilities for a while. So in case you're wondering, I have no idea how that incident could've happened."

Jaden put his thumb and forefinger to his chin. From what he'd heard, it sounded like things were starting to turn around for Pearl after all these years. But, after one little mishap, the government had whisked her away to parts unknown for testing.

"So, Mrs. Lite, I know that I've already sort of asked you a question like this, but I really need an honest answer before I do anything." Jaden looked at Mrs. Lite. "Do you think that Pearl would _want _to be there in that government facility? Because from what I've heard, it seems like maybe there'd be a small possibility that Pearl would welcome the chance to get rid of her abilities." Mrs. Lite took a while, looking down at her coffee.

"No," she said finally. "I don't think she wants to be there. Pearl and I are very close, and they wouldn't even let me see her. So I imagine that on some level, she wants to get out of there and come home where she'd be happiest." Jaden watched Mrs. Lite wipe a tear from her eye. It occurred to him how miserable this woman was from not being able to see her daughter. And he was sure that the government should at _least _give Pearl a few opportunities to see her family. She was cut off from the outside world, frightened with all the abilities that she had, possibly full of self-loathing for what she did to Justin, and very, _very, _miserable. Jaden remembered what he'd told Yubel a few hours ago at that table at the café. _"I can't just sit around and do nothing." _

Jaden's eyes and brow formed into a hard line. He'd made his decision, but there was one thing he'd have to do first.

"Mrs. Lite," he said, "Thank you for all the information you've provided me as well as your hospitality. While I'm pretty sure that Pearl would want to be able to visit you, I'm still not entirely sure about whether or not she wants to be out of that facility. So I'm going to get her side of all this." Mrs. Lite's eyebrows shot up.

"How're you going to do that?" she asked. Jaden smiled at her.

"I have a way," he assured her. "And I assure you, if Pearl wants out of there, I'll spring her out of there. Because I think I know how I can get her to control her powers."

"How?" asked Mrs. Lite. "How are you so sure you'll be able to do all these things? And for the most part, I don't even know who you _are. _You show up on my doorstep out of the blue and tell me that you can help my daughter? I'm sorry if I sound a little rude for asking, but… just who _are _you?"

Jaden didn't blame her one bit. "I'm like Pearl, ma'am," he explained. "I can see and interact with Duel Spirits. I can even do some of the same things that Pearl can with them. But I've mastered all of _my _abilities, and I'm confident that the one thing Pearl needs is a mentor. Someone like me who can show her the ropes of how to use her abilities and control them. And most importantly…" Jaden's eyes moistened as he said this, for he was recalling all that he'd inflicted on others, and how much of it he wanted to alleviate it. "…someone to take the pain away." He turned to go.

"Jaden," Mrs. Lite called to him and he wheeled around to face her smile. "Thank you," she said. "What you're going to do for Pearl… I… I know that it would be a great help to her."

Jaden gave her a salute.

"Don't worry about a thing, ma'am," he comforted. "And you're welcome." Jaden left then with Pharaoh in his arms still. After the door was closed, he dropped the fat cat on the ground again.

"Okay, it's definitely going to be a diet for you," Jaden said. Pharaoh meowed in protest, but Jaden didn't hear him. "Let's go, we've got a girl to save."

By the time night hit, Jaden and Banner had been able to find Fort Ulysses; it was located a couples of miles outside of Great Falls, just where Justin Donovan had told them it would be. Jaden left his bag with Banner and Pharaoh in a group of bushes half a mile back; when the time came to bolt, and he needed to get out of there, he didn't want anyone finding his bag and taking it anywhere.

Armed with only Yubel, his Disk and Deck, Jaden climbed over the fence, wincing with pain as the barbed wire cut into his flesh. When he jumped back down onto the ground, he held up his hands for Yubel to see.

"Care to give me a hand?" he asked, somewhat half-jokingly. Yubel sighed and focused her power, healing Jaden's injuries. Jaden ducked underneath an armored truck and sprawled out on his stomach, surveying his surroundings. It occurred to him that getting a glimpse of the place this way was not the smartest, as his view from underneath the truck was limited and he also ran the risk of being run over should someone start the vehicle up. But Jaden decided that the best way to enter the facility undetected was to hitch a ride on the underside of a vehicle. From under the truck, he surveyed his surroundings: there weren't many entrances into the main building, so what he'd have to do was patrol the area until he found one. Jaden was glad he'd changed into a black long-sleeved shirt and left his jacket behind. The bright red color would only give him away, and he needed to enter the place undetected. For that purpose, black was the best way to go. Besides, if it worked for James Bond and all those other guys, it could work for him. The fact that he was also wearing gloves didn't hurt either.

Jaden suddenly perked up as he heard footsteps. He saw two feet walk towards the driver's side of the truck. He heard the door open and close.

"_Right,"_ he thought. _"Time to move." _He immediately grabbed the underside of the truck, stashing his feet in two holds and holding on to a non-rotating bar. Jaden knew better than to grab the axle. That wouldn't go down very well; either he'd fall off and die, or his clothing and skin would come off. Either way was both painful and unnecessary, not to mention unnecessarily painful and painfully unnecessary.

The truck began to move and Jaden expressed silent thanks for the holds he'd chosen. From his sideways position, Jaden could see that they were indeed headed for the main building.

"_Good," _he thought. _"Maybe that's where I'll find Pearl." _

The truck came to a stop and Jaden waited until the footsteps faded away before dislodging himself from the vehicle's underside. Wiping what was either grease, oil, or a little bit of both off on his jeans, he made his way towards the main building, which itself was expected to be heavily guarded and laced with security systems that would be hard to get past, but Jaden had made a few plans: he admitted to himself that these weren't solid plans, for they _were _based on spy movies he'd seen, but nevertheless, he decided that they were better than having no plan at all. Banner had bemoaned his lack of preparation, but Jaden had never been one for that kind of thing. He had always been more of a spontaneous, go-with-the-flow-think-on-your-feet kind of guy. Nevertheless, he decided that Banner was right: for something as serious as this, preparation made all the difference, and from looking at all the security measures, Jaden decided that next time he did something like this, he'd make a few contingency plans that were based on his experiences here, not from something so potentially misleading as spy movies.

Avoiding the lights, Jaden hurried to the side of the building where he inched along until he could see the front door. There were a few guards there and what appeared to be an electronic keypad. _"Well, that way's out," _Jaden remarked. Then to Yubel, he asked, _"Any other ideas?" _

"_There's a vent about a foot above your head," _replied the spirit. Jaden looked up to see the vent, but it was a little high.

"_Blast it," _thought Jaden, _"I'm not tall enough to reach." _

He suddenly heard a familiar sound: _"Kuri, Kuri!" _Winged Kuriboh appeared beside Jaden and flew up to the vent, checking inside; he chirped the all-clear. Jaden smiled at his small friend: the little guy was always proving himself useful again and again. But Jaden still had to get up there. Getting an idea, he engaged his Duel Disk, turning the noise dial on it all the way down so that any sound would be muted. He took his Elemental Hero Neos card from his Deck Box and placed it on the Monster Card Zone.

"Let's go to work, Neos," Jaden murmured. The big man appeared and Jaden wordlessly indicated the vent above them and that he needed to get up there. Neos nodded and bent down, putting his hands together and cupping them so that Jaden could step into them, onto Neos' shoulders so that the bigger man could lift him up to where he could reach the vent. Jaden stepped into the cup made by Neos' hands and the Duel Spirit lifted him up. Jaden unscrewed the four corners of the vent cover and slid it inside the space. He entered the vent, cringing at all the small noises he made either by his joints or his Duel Disk hitting the metal surface. Praying that the guards around the corner wouldn't hear him, Jaden quickly removed Neos' card from his Duel Disk and, with a little difficulty managed to return the card to his Deck Box. There was still no time to waste; he heard one of the guards acknowledge the noises. He cursed quietly to himself in his thoughts and quickly replaced the vent cover, putting back all the screws, although this time the pointy sides were sticking out. Jaden sighed; he knew it couldn't be helped, but for all he knew these men were trained to notice small details like this and would pick up on it in a matter of time.

"_No time to think about that now," _Jaden thought to himself, _"Just keep moving forward."_

His Duel Disk, as marvelous a contraption as it was, proved a hindrance in the confined space. Jaden returned it to its standby position and considered taking it off, but decided to leave it on since he had nowhere else to put it. He crawled along the vent, realizing that now, he had no effing clue which direction he had to go in.

"_What I need," _he thought, _"Is a map of this place. Once I find one, I can find out where I need to go." _Fortunately, it was only a few moments before he found a place to drop out of. As silently as he could, he undid the screws and removed the vent cover, taking great care not to drop it to the floor. Winged Kuriboh appeared again and made sure that the coast was clear as Jaden dropped to the floor; his eyes widened as the soles of his feet stung with the impact.

"_Owe, that hurt," _Jaden mused, _"It couldn't have been _that _much of a drop could it?" _Either way, he realized, he still needed to replace that grate. Making sure the coast was clear again, he engaged his Duel Disk for the second time and this time called out Winged Kuriboh. After receiving his directions from his master in a hushed whisper, the little fairy made his way into the vent, picking up the screws, replacing the grate, and re-installing the screws until done. Looking down, he saw his master give him an approving smile and a thumbs-up before putting his card back in the Deck Box. Jaden returned his Duel Disk to standby and looked around for a map of the building.

"_Darn it," _he thought, _"There doesn't seem to be one anywhere." _He heard voices and hid in the nearest doorway as he tried to figure out his next move.

"_I'd say getting in was the easy part," _Yubel offered. Jaden rolled his eyes; of _course _it was. Getting in was _never _the hard part; the hard part was getting the job done once inside.

"_Where can I find a map of this place?" _Jaden asked himself as he waited for the voices to subside. It occurred to him that maybe the people who the voices belonged to were headed for Pearl's room. It wasn't confirmed or anything, and it was only a hunch, but a hunch was all Jaden really had right now. He didn't want to spend all that time looking for a map of the place when he could just as easily get somewhere by following someone. While waiting for the voices to pass, Jaden tried to figure out where in a facility like this they could find a map.

"_What are you doing?"_ asked Yubel. _"Why are you waiting around? Can't you feel her? Her power combined with her fear and sorrow? She can barely control herself. Track that and we'll find her."_ Jaden attuned himself and felt them. They confirmed what he'd wanted to know deep down: that Pearl hated being here, was being held against her will, and wanted desperately to go home.

"_But will we be able to get her out?"_ asked Jaden. _"And will she want to come with us?" _Yubel materialized next to him and waved her arm around, indicating their surroundings.

"Look at this place and you tell me whether or not she'd want to come with us," she said, implying that no one in their right mind would be here. Given who was implying it, it was pretty ironic.

Jaden could now feel the girl's presence: it was incredible; her powers really weren't under control, it felt like a dam on the verge of bursting. Quickly, Jaden checked the corner and hurried down the hall in the opposite direction of the voices towards the strong power. She was close… so close and yet Jaden couldn't find her. He was going around in circles and not finding anything.

"_Where is she?!"_ he asked, frustrated. Jaden ran around another corner, but came to a full stop in front of a single door. Without really understanding the feeling that came over him, he opened it and found a spiral staircase. The staircase went both up and down, but the strong feeling was coming from below.

"_It makes sense, doesn't it?"_ asked Yubel. _"To keep her below ground, I mean. She'd be safest down there."_

"_And most confined,"_ Jaden agreed. He didn't waste any time getting down the stairs and tracking the girl's power to its source: a single grey room with a little window in the door. Jaden peeked inside to see a girl about his age dressed in white with brown hair tied back in a ponytail and two pink streaks that hung loose on either side of her face. The girl looked to be half asleep on a small bed that hung out from the wall. She looked so sad, even in a partial sleep. Jaden knew then that he had to get her out. Gently, he tapped on the door and the girl woke up. She looked around the room and then to the window where she saw an unfamiliar head. Carefully, she approached and looked the new face in the eye. Her eyes were blue like a summer's sky at noon. They were also incredibly wary; Jaden detected suspicion and mistrust behind those eyes.

"_Now why would anyone feel mistrustful in a place like this?"_ he asked himself. _"A place like this that's supposedly trying to help her." _The girl backed away from the door, still not trusting the brown-haired stranger.

"It's okay," Jaden reassured her. "I'm a friend. I'm going to get you out of here, alright?" Even though Pearl was still wary of him, she still nodded her head. Jaden decided that small talk was the best way to go.

"Are you Pearl?" he asked. She nodded again, but her eyes narrowed while she did it. Goddammit, this girl just did not trust him. "Look," said Jaden, smiling all the while as he said this, "It's okay. You've got nothing to worry about from me. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you." Pearl didn't understand why this person would try to do so. After all, they'd never met, and they didn't owe each other anything, so why was he here? Finally, she decided to speak up.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Jaden kept smiling at her reassuringly. "I'm Jaden Yuki," he replied.

"Why are you trying to get me out of here?" Pearl asked.

"I'm not trying to," Jaden corrected, "I am."

"But I don't know you," Pearl pointed out.

"You don't have to," Jaden replied, "I can tell that you're miserable here. I can tell that the one thing you want most is to get out of here and go home." Pearl's eyes shot upwards.

"How do you know that?" she asked, incredibly wary of him now. "I never told you that."

"I can sense your feelings," Jaden replied. "I know that sounds weird, but I can. I can tell that you're miserable here and that you miss your mom and dad. I can tell you're blaming yourself for what happened to Justin Donovan, even though it wasn't your fault."

"Okay," said Pearl, a little freaked out. "Just who are you, weirdo? How do you know so much about me? And it kind of was," she admitted, with a little hurt in her voice, but she immediately became defensive again. "Answer me," she insisted. "How do you know all this? Tell me or I'm calling the guards."

"You won't call the guards on me, Pearl," said Jaden. "Like I said, you've got nothing to fear from me."

"Yeah, well, you still know a disturbing amount about me," said Pearl, "And even though you've told me your name Jaden, you're still a complete stranger to me. How do I know I can trust you?"

Jaden sighed with slight exasperation. This girl was being difficult, but he tried his best to understand; even though he'd already known about her for a while, this was Pearl's first time meeting him, and she was scared that leaving with him would only end up being in a similar situation. How could she know that he wasn't going to do the same things to her once he absconded with her? Jaden opened his chocolate brown eyes, the same eyes that had convinced people to trust him for three years straight.

"Don't you ever wish you could control your powers?" he asked. Pearl immediately backed away. Jaden cursed himself mentally. His attempts weren't working. "I know about the Duel Spirits, Pearl," he said, trying to reassure her while he said it. "I know about what happened. It was on the news. I visited Justin in the hospital and you've got nothing to worry about. He doesn't blame you for it at all, and your mom's just as worried about you. I know that you think your abilities are a curse, but they aren't. What you have is a gift, Pearl."

"How do you know all that?" Pearl asked, her voice cracking. "You're starting to freak me out."

Jaden smiled apologetically. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to freak you out, and I'm not trying to. I just need you to trust me."

"I don't know how I can do that if you won't tell me who you are," the girl retorted. Jaden pressed his forehead against the glass, only to immediately take it off and wipe away the print with his glove. Pearl smiled a bit; weird or not, this stranger was a little funny.

"You didn't answer my question," Pearl said, returning to the defensive. "How can I trust you?"

Jaden smiled at her with all the kindness his eyes could muster. "Well," he began. "I'm like you, Pearl. I can see Duel Spirits and conjure them up." Pearl's eyes widened. Jaden continued. "I saw your story on the news Pearl, and from that blast I saw, I could tell you're having trouble controlling your powers. I figured you'd be locked away somewhere, cut off from the outside world, not being allowed to have any contact with your friends and family, and I was right. I imagine that you're going through something, right? You're scared to Duel because of what it could end up doing to your loved ones, and you're mad at yourself right now for what happened to your friend Justin, and you're also afraid of all these strange powers you're developing." Pearl's way expression softened as she saw the level of empathy in Jaden's features. "You're scared, lonely and miserable, right? You didn't ask for any of this, to be given the ability to see and conjure Duel Spirits, and especially not to be locked away in what's essentially a prison for who knows how long." Jaden paused to take a breath. "When I imagined how you'd feel from all this Pearl, I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. I want to help you, and I can promise you now that I mean that with every fiber of my being. So do you think you can trust me now?" Jaden asked. "I spoke with your mom and Justin by the way. They'd both prefer that you not be here. Justin's not mad at you for the incident, and your mom would give anything in the world to have you back."

Pearl looked at this strange boy in front of her behind the door. _"Why?" _she asked herself. _"Why would this guy do all of this for me?"_

"But you don't even know me," she pointed out. Jaden gave her a smile.

"I don't believe in having to know someone in order to help them," he replied. "Now, if it's not too much trouble, how do I open this door?"

"You can't," Pearl said. "You need the passcode in order to get the door open." Jaden looked down and saw the keypad she mentioned. It looked a lot more complicated than something that just required a code.

"I suppose that breaking down the door would set off an alarm," Jaden said. The girl nodded. He figured that he could use his Deck to get through the door, but he couldn't be sure. It was likely meant to hold everything out just as much as keep her in. Jaden studied the keypad, a crease forming on his brow.

"_I have to get this door open," _he thought. _"But how?"_ Hearing his thoughts, Yubel spoke up.

"_There is a way for you to get that door open, Jaden. If you're willing to do it, you'll have to access facets of my power that you never knew about previously."_ Jaden looked through the glass door at the girl whose trust he'd earned.

"_Let's do it,"_ he replied.

"_Good,"_ replied the spirit, _"Now focus and look at the keypad. Try to draw out my power through your eyes." _Jaden did as Yubel instructed and focused on the keypad, trying to draw her power out. His eyes changed color and he saw this reflected in the keypad's shiny black surface.

"_I don't know what I'm looking for,"_ he admitted to Yubel. The spirit was patient.

"_Just keep looking,"_ she advised, _"It'll show."_ Jaden was about to question this, when all of a sudden the coloration of the entire room changed. Pearl's white garb seemed to glow in the light, and any traces of liquid on the premises became apparent. Jaden's eyes widened.

"_It's like I'm seeing in ultraviolet,"_ he thought. Looking back at the keypad, he noticed tiny oil patterns that shaped into loops, whirls or arches. Jaden realized what these were. _"I can see fingerprints,"_ he realized. _"I get it, Yubel! You're trying to show me the exact sequence of digits used to open the door!"_

"_I'm not showing you anything,"_ the spirit replied. _"You're the one drawing out my power. This is your own doing Jaden, and you should be proud of your accomplishment." _

"_There'll be time for that later,"_ Jaden told her. _"Right now, the important thing is–"_

"_I know what the important thing is,"_ Yubel interrupted, growing impatient. _"Just hurry up. Using my power doesn't stop time, you know. Someone might show up at any minute."_

"_Right,"_ Jaden thought. He looked at the sequence of numbers. There were fingerprints on three keys. Jaden decided to check something.

"Hey Pearl," he asked, "Do you know by any chance how many digits the code is?" For the first time, Pearl smiled at him.

"It's four," she replied. Jaden smiled back at her. Clearly this girl had been planning an escape long before he came into the picture. Jaden returned his attention to the keypad; four digits, yet only three fingerprints. That meant that one of the numbers was repeated in the sequence. Jaden mulled it over.

"_Hmm… in a four-digit sequence, one of the numbers repeats itself. There are fingerprints on the three, four and seven keys, which means that there are either two threes, two fours or two sevens."_ Before he could continue, Yubel interrupted him again.

"_Look closer with my power,"_ she instructed. _"And attune yourself to all the little differences."_ Jaden did as he was told and focused even harder.

At first it seemed like nothing was happening and that he was just wasting his time. But all of a sudden, Jaden's field of vision became a zoom lens, zooming in on the three fingerprints, revealing that the print on the three key was thicker than the prints on the four and seven keys.

"_Okay,"_ Jaden reviewed, _"I've got prints on the three, four and seven keys. It's a four-digit sequence with two threes. How many possible combinations of numbers are there to open Pearl's door?"_ Jaden groaned mentally. He'd signed up for a rescue mission, not a math test.

"_Focus,"_ Yubel told him. _"You can do this."_ Jaden thanked Yubel for her reassurance and considered. He pulled out his phone and opened the Notepad app, typing down all the different possible combinations of numbers there were: 4337, 4373, 4733, 7433, 7343, 7334, 3347, 3374, 3473, 3437, 3743 and 3734. There were twelve possible combinations.

"Pearl," he asked, "I've got twelve possible code combinations and I doubt the security system here's going to give me a chance to try them all. Is there anything you can remember about any previous times when a guard entered the code in?" Pearl looked at him despondently through the glass and shook her head no. Jaden sighed; breaking her out was going to be tougher than he thought.

"_Still,"_ he affirmed to himself, _"I can't give up! Pearl and her friends and family are all counting on me. I can't let them down!" _He ran his hand through his hair. This was getting to be tougher than he thought, and it was starting to get out of his league. Jaden wished he'd brought Axel Brodie along; Axel would've had this problem solved lickety-split. Situations like these were easy for him to process since that guy always lived his life on high alert. Jaden steeled himself. He could bemoan Axel's absence all he wanted, but that wouldn't get Pearl out of here. Whether he liked it or not, Axel wasn't here. It was all up to him now. Jaden gulped; he didn't want to input a code because he didn't want to risk setting off an alarm. Jaden studied the possible combinations again.

"_Maybe the code is somebody's birthday?"_ He thought. It didn't seem like a stretch that the code would be someone's birthday. It happened all the time with big-time CEOs and their computer or safe passwords. Even if this was different, maybe it would work. Jaden considered all the combinations that aligned to make a sensible birthdate.

All the combinations beginning with four would mean that someone here was born in April. So the possible birthdates in April from the codes here were: 4/3/37, 4/3/73 and 4/7/33. Jaden considered it. Someone born in 1973 would probably have a better chance of working here than someone born in either 1933 or '37. But then there was the codes beginning with seven, indicating the month of July, and the possible birthdates there were 7/4/33, 7/3/43 and 7/3/34. Jaden frowned; anyone born from 1933-43 would most likely be retired by now. Finally, there were the codes beginning with three, of which there were the most. While there were only three sets of codes that began with either four or seven, there were twelve possible codes, which meant the possible number of codes beginning with three was double the amount of either one of the other two sets. Jaden sighed and got to work: 3/3/47, 3/3/74, 3/7/34, 3/4/37, 3/4/73 and 3/7/43. On the modern calendar, the number three indicated the month of March. Jaden considered the dates: someone born in 1934, 1937, 1943 or 1947 would most likely be retired by now. But someone born in 1973 or '74 probably stood a good chance of working here. So now from all the possible dates he gathered, there were three possible codes: 4373, 3374 or 3473. Jaden looked at the keypad through his ultra-violet vision. Only thing left to do was input the right code.

But what if it was wrong? What if using birthdays was the wrong approach? If he screwed this up, all of Jaden's efforts would be in vain, and Pearl and her friends and family would never be reunited.

"_Darn it,"_ thought Jaden. _"No matter how I narrow it down, there's still the chance that I could be wrong, and I can't afford that."_ He sighed.

"I'm sorry Pearl," he murmured. "I tried to think logically about how I could narrow all the codes down, and I've got three left, but there's still a chance I could be wrong in either the first code I put in or my entire approach to it. I just wasted fifteen minutes of your life that you'll never get back." Pearl looked at him with fearful eyes.

"You're leaving?" she asked. Jaden looked at her with a grin.

"You nuts?" he asked. "'Course not. Just because I've hit a wall doesn't mean I'm giving up. I'll just have to try something else." Jaden returned his eyes to normal and looked around the facility. _"What can I use to get Pearl out of here?"_ he wondered. He turned around abruptly as Pearl knocked on the glass.

"If…if you got my Deck and Duel Disk, I might be able to break through the door from in here," she said.

"That would work if I could get it in to you," Jaden said.

"You can," said Pearl. "There's a small vent at the base of this door. I think that my Duel Disk could fit through there. It's not big enough for me to crawl through, but maybe we can get something in."

"Any idea where they might've put your Duel gear?" asked Jaden. He was expecting another negative answer, but to his surprise, Pearl nodded.

"I can sense my cards somehow," she said before shrugging. "Don't ask me how, but I can. They're keeping my Deck in a separate location. I can't say I know about my Duel Disk, but I know that my Deck is located nearby."

Jaden frowned at her. "'Nearby' isn't good enough, Pearl. I need you to be exact."

"I… I don't know, okay?" Pearl replied, a little frustrated. "I'm locked up here, so I can't exactly go out and look for it." Jaden smiled at her.

"It's alright," he said, "If you follow my instructions, you won't have to."

"Huh?" Pearl looked at him, perplexed. Jaden just smiled at her.

"Close your eyes," he instructed.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Albeit skeptically, Pearl closed her eyes, wondering what was possibly going on in this strange boy's mind.

"Alright, now what do you experience when you're sensing your cards?" Jaden asked. "Are they a ball of light, or are they a gut instinct, or something else?"

"A ball of light."

"Alright, now focus on that ball of light. Concentrate and imagine spreading your awareness all around you like butter on a toasted bagel. When you do that, try and see if there's anything in your field of awareness that resembles that ball of light," Jaden said.

Pearl did as she was told and spread her awareness around her in the way Jaden described. Immediately her eyes perked up and flew open.

"Go to the end of the hall, turn left and it'll be the last door down there," she said.

"Atta girl, you did it! I'll be right back," Jaden promised, running down the hall. He turned left and sure enough at the very end of the hall was the door that Pearl had told him about. Jaden hurried to open it, but found that it was locked. Luckily, he'd learned to pick simple key locks after an incident in Alaska that was either do or die and now always carried something to use as a pick. This happened to be a small, metal nail file that could also double as a screwdriver if it was used on the right screw. It only took him a minute to open the lock and sure enough, inside were the girl's pink rimmed Duel Disk and her brown felt Deck Box sitting side by side, but there was something different about the Deck. Jaden picked it up and, through Yubel's power; he saw the pure light that emanated from her cards.

"_Wow," _he thought, _"I've only seen cards with a bond to their owner like this with Jesse and his Crystal Beasts. These cards are only loyal to Pearl. So much power and emotion: this Deck wants only to be back with its master."_

"_Don't keep it waiting then," _said Yubel through the mind link. Jaden grabbed the remaining contents of what was surprisingly a closet and hurried back to Pearl.

"Bet you're glad to see these again," he said facetiously, holding her Duel gear up for her to see. "Now to get these in to you."

"How?" inquired Pearl. "I don't have any tools, and unless you brought a screwdriver, we can't get the vent off."

"I don't have a screwdriver," Jaden confessed. "But I do have something that works just as well." He held up the nail file and the girl grinned as Jaden began to work on the screws.

"You carry a nail file?" she asked, bending down with him. "And I thought girls carried strange things."

"This little number," replied Jaden, "Was how I opened the door and got your gear out."

He bent down to unscrew the vent cover. "It all started in Alaska, where I was tracking a card thief. I ended up in a wolf's den surrounded by this thick fence with a lock on it and well, I had this handy." Jaden kept going at the screws. "Bottom line: always have something handy when you need to screw something."

The girl snorted, laughing. Jaden pulled his head up. "What's so funny?" he asked. Pearl looked at him, confused. She was certain that he'd been making a joke on purpose, but apparently he wasn't.

"Nothing," she said. "It's just that… you don't know what screw means?"

"Well, naturally I assume it means to install something using a screwdriver," Jaden replied. Pearl's eyebrows shot up, surprised at his naiveté. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Jaden letting out an "Aha!" after removing the final screw. He carefully slid the girl's Duel Disk through sideways, then did the same thing with her Deck Box. Jaden noticed that when Pearl took out her Deck, the cards seemed to perk up at her touch. She quickly placed them inside her Duel Disk.

"I hope you've got a plan for getting out of here," she said.

"Run, and run hard," Jaden answered, stepping out of the way. "Whenever you're ready."

"To do what?"

Jaden stared at her, confused. "To break the door down." Pearl frowned.

"I don't know how to do that," she admitted lamely. Jaden smiled patiently.

"Try Summoning a monster, and focus your energies the same way you did with Justin." Pearl tensed up at the memory of her friend.

"He's fine," Jaden reassured her. "He didn't look that hurt when I went to see him in the hospital."

"You visited him?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because I was hoping he could give me some information as to where you were and whether or not you were being held under duress," Jaden replied. "Now focus and concentrate your energies. Try to draw out that power that you felt during your Duel with Justin." Pearl nodded and took a deep breath, then activated her Duel Disk and drew a card.

"I summon Gem-Knight Garnet!" she said, placing the card on her Monster Card Zone. The monster appeared in her little room. Jaden gaped in awe at the monster before her: a knight with no sword dressed in a full body red suit of armor, complete with a helmet and visor, which obscured his face.

"My lady," Garnet said, kneeling down, "I am so glad to be reunited with you."

"As am I," Pearl replied. "But I need your help. Do me a favor and break down this door so I can escape, please."

"Your wish is my command, mistress," Garnet said, standing up. He stood before the door, a determined look in his eye as his fist grew flames. "Flaming Iron Fist!" he shouted as he punched the door down. Jaden had to dive to the side as the door cemented itself into the opposite wall. The girl and her monster exited the room.

"Thank you, Garnet," she said.

"Anything for you, my lady," Garnet said as he disappeared. Jaden stood in the doorway, clapping his approval.

"Not bad Pearl, not bad at all. That was very good for your first time _trying _to use your abilities."

Suddenly, a loud noise that was both a wail and a whine perforated Jaden and Pearl's eardrums.

"The alarm!" shouted Pearl. "We need to get out of here fast!"

"Remember what I said!" Jaden shouted back. "Run, and run fast!" He grabbed her hand to lead her in the right direction. "This way, hurry!"

The two of them ran down the hall and into the stairwell. Up the first flight of stairs they flew and when they came to the next door, Jaden discovered that it locked from the inside.

"One sided entrance," he said. "Come on!" The two of them flew up the next flight, but the door was also locked. By this time, guards were streaming into the stairwell and they didn't have much time. The two Duelists decided to take their chances and run up to the roof. The door was open and they ran out into the night air. Jaden picked up a pipe lying nearby and barred the door. The girl ran to the edge and looked down. They were three stories above the ground, too high to jump.

"Okay, what now?" she asked.

"I'm working on it," Jaden replied as the door shook with the force of men trying to break it down.

"They'll get us!" she said.

"Not if I have anything to do about it," Jaden retorted. He asked Yubel,

"_Any ideas?"_

"_You could both get down if you use my power to bring your monsters to life,"_ the spirit replied.

"_Last resort,"_ Jaden said, shooting the idea down. _"The last thing we need are scientists who want to study us."_

"Listen," said Pearl, getting Jaden's attention. "What's your name-I appreciate the attempt, I really do, but there's nothing we can do," the girl said. "We've got nowhere to go and that pipe won't hold them much longer. We can't win this."

Jaden turned to face her. "Pearl," he said, "If there's anything you should know about me besides the fact that I'm devastatingly handsome and I can see and conjure Duel Spirits, it's that I can win _anything, _because I never give up." He turned back to watch the door. "Stay close to me. I'll get us out of this somehow."

Pearl scuttled behind him as the barricade finally gave way and the guards swarmed the rooftop, pointing guns at them. "Don't move!" they shouted. "We've got you surrounded! You've got nowhere to run!" Jaden discreetly activated his Duel Disk and drew the card he needed.

"Maybe," he admitted, "But we _do _have somewhere to be." He turned to Pearl. "Are you afraid of heights?"

"No."

"Good, then jump."

Pearl wanted to argue with him about it, but they were surrounded by men with guns and this stranger's eyes were bichromatic, which was a little intimidating. So, even though it was against her judgment, Pearl closed her eyes and jumped off the edge. Jaden Summoned Avian, who picked her up in his arms before she hit the ground and waved the men goodbye as he jumped off the edge and the winged warrior flew back up and grabbed him in his long taloned feet before flying into the trees, carrying them both off into the night. When the guards looked over the edge, both of them were gone.

Ta da! You didn't think it'd be gone forever. I'm back and hopefully, this time, it'll be better than before. Most of the story line is the same, just a little more information added thanks to my good friend Naruto-Superman4. Hope you enjoy it:);)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Homecoming

Jaden awoke the next morning to a thin stream of sunlight poking through the trees. He was leaning against a very large oak with the girl he'd rescued resting against his shoulder. It had been a long time running away from the facility and Pearl was already tired. So, they finally found a safe place to rest, far enough away from the military base and she'd fallen asleep almost right away. Jaden smiled at her. She had done a good job back at the base, but there were still several things that needed to be done to help this girl.

Carefully, Jaden took off his jacket and folded it into a pillow before laying the girl down on it so he could do a perimeter check.

_"You can sense it, can't you?"_ Yubel asked, as Jaden made sure that they were still safe.

_"Sense what?"_ Jaden asked.

_"This girl's power, combined with her strong connection to her deck is very much the same as yours,"_ Yubel said. Jaden sighed.

_"Ya but, hers is natural, mine is…other-worldly. And that's not the only difference,"_ he said.

_"Whatever the difference is, I have a feeling that this girl isn't out of the woods yet,"_ Yubel said. Jaden didn't doubt her. When it came to things like this, Yubel was normally right.

"I know I have to help her, but how?" Jaden asked out loud.

_"By doing the same thing you did with me,"_ Yubel said. _"By being there for her."_ Jaden smiled. He had been right. This girl would need a mentor to help her, the question was, how long could they stay here before they were discovered and Pearl taken away again? There really was no answer to that, but Jaden felt guilty thinking that she might have to be on the run for a while. She was free, she could go home, see her mom and dad and friends, but the way Jaden saw it, she couldn't stay long. Suddenly the girl groaned behind them. Pushing the thoughts to the back of his head, Jaden turned around to see Pearl slowly sit up, yawn and rub her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You're out," Jaden said, kneeling beside her to pick up his jacket. "You're free." Pearl looked around and smiled the biggest smile Jaden had ever seen. She leaped up and gave Jaden a large hug.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much um…What was your name again?" They looked at each other and Jaden smiled.

"My name is Jaden Yuki," Jaden said.

"Jaden, my name is Pearl Lite," the girl said. Jaden grinned cheekily.

"I already know who you are," he said. "I also know that your mom is really worried about you. Let's get you home." Jaden helped Pearl stand up and then looked at her. "On second thought, we'd better find something else for you to wear. Walking around in hospital garb isn't exactly a way to avoid detection."

"Where would we find some more clothes?" Pearl asked. Jaden thought for a moment. Finding new clothes in a forest just didn't seem possible. He didn't exactly want to go for a George of the Jungle look. Jaden realized that he was still dressed in black from his late night raid and that his bag with his Slifer jacket and Pharaoh was still hidden in a bush somewhere.

"I've got an idea, come on," Jaden said. The two of them hurried towards the bushes where Jaden had left his bag. Of course, finding the exact same set of bushes was more difficult than Jaden had first thought. Eventually, Jaden just started calling for Pharaoh, to Pearl's confusion. Finally, the orange tabby poked his head above the bushes and let out a sleepy meow.

"There you are," Jaden said, patting the overweight cat. "Pearl, this is Pharaoh." Pearl smiled and picked him up.

"Aren't you a big one," she said. Jaden grinned as he fished his jacket out of his bag.

"Here, you can wear this over your dress," he said. Pearl gently placed Pharaoh on the ground and accepted the red Slifer jacket. She quickly put it on and did it up so it no longer looked like she was an escapee from a hospital.

"That looks better," Jaden said. "At least we shouldn't draw too much attention to ourselves now. So, let's get you home."

"Sounds good to me," Pearl said. "I'm so ready to just relax at home." Jaden smiled, but inside, he seriously doubted that that would happen for Pearl for a long time.

From the base to Pearl's home was a two hour walk through town. Back through the town, back into her neighborhood and back up the incredibly large hill where her house was sitting. Pharaoh was still unhappy about having to walk up the hill, but also had been prepared for it after the first time. At the top, Jaden glanced around and decided that the back door was safer than the front. Picking up the overweight cat, the two of them headed into the back and knocked on the door. To Jaden's surprise and pleasure, it wasn't Pearl's mother that answered the door, but Justin!

"Pearl, Jaden!" he said.

"Justin!" Pearl said. Then she slightly shied away, remembering what had happened. Justin however was overjoyed to see her and gave her a large hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe," he said.

"You're not mad?" Pearl asked. "Even after I put you in the hospital?" Justin shook his head.

"Of course not. You didn't mean it," he said. "Come on inside." Pearl headed in and Jaden followed. Justin nodded to him.

"Thanks for getting her out," he said.

"No problem," Jaden said. "Speaking of getting out, when did they release you from the hospital?"

"This morning," Justin said. "My parents are working, so Mrs. Lite offered to put me up until they got back. Mrs. Lite, there are some people here I think you want to meet." Mrs. Lite hurried down the stairs but stopped dead at the sight of Pearl and Jaden standing in her living room. It was only for a moment before she continued down the stairs and embraced her daughter.

"Pearl, I'm so glad you're safe," she said.

"Mom, I can't breathe," Pearl squawked. Mrs. Lite let her go and smiled.

"Go on upstairs and change," she said. Pearl nodded and passed Jaden back his Slifer jacket before hurrying upstairs. Jaden placed Pharaoh on the ground and put it back on, preferring the red over the black jacket he had worn. Mrs. Lite came up to him after he was done and gave him a hug.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," Jaden said. "Helping people is my specialty."

"What about helping yourself?" Justin asked. Jaden and Mrs. Lite hurried to the TV where Justin was standing watching the news.

"Authorities still have no leads on the run away psychic duellist who escaped late last night," the reporter said. "This video feed released to the news shows two of them as they make their escape." Jaden groaned at the sight of the security camera footage.

"Great, now I'm on TV," he said.

_"I thought you always wanted to be in the spotlight,"_ Yubel said, cheekily.

_"Ya, but not like that,"_ Jaden said.

"The boy is recognized as Jaden Yuki, a young duellist from Japan who has been travelling to compete in tournaments, though often leaving a trail of destruction in his path as seen at a military base in Alaska," the reporter continued.

"Hey, that's totally not my fault," Jaden argued.

"What happened in Alaska?" Mrs. Lite asked, curiously.

"Long story short, I had to stop a mad man from sending missiles to destroy Duel Academy and the only way to do that was to blow up the base," Jaden said.

"Ouch," Justin said.

"You should've seen the other guy," Jaden said. "Took me forever to dig him out."

"That aside, you two can't stay here," Justin said.

"Ya, I got that," Jaden said. Suddenly, Jaden's cell phone rang. Immediately he knew who it was and answered happily.

"Talk to me," he said.

_"It's me,"_ said Axel's familiar voice. _"Just saw your escape on the news." _

"Ya, I'm watching it right now," Jaden said.

_"It won't take long for them to find you,"_ Axel said. _"You need to learn to be stealthier." _

"It's not my fault. You should teach me how to disable alarms so next time I can," Jaden said.

_"Next time you're my way, stop by and I'll give you a crash course in disabling electronics, but not now,"_ Axel said. _"Right now you both need to get out of there and explain to me why you chose to risk your life for this girl." _

"Stories later, right now we need to…" Jaden trailed off as the news report continued. "Hold on a moment."

"What's going on?" Pearl asked, coming back downstairs. She was now dressed in jeans, sneakers and a low-cut blue t-shirt over a pink long-sleeved shirt. Everyone hushed her as Mrs. Lite brought her into the living room and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"…what was surprising was that later that night, there was another break in at the lab, this one much less discreet. Oberon Lancaster was caught trying to break the girl out as well. It is unclear as to why this former duellist champ would want with this girl, and it's unlikely that we'll find out any time soon. Oberon was able to escape and no one knows where he went."

"That can't be good," Jaden said.

"Why would Oberon want Pearl?" Justin asked. "It makes no sense."

"Maybe not to you, but I've met a lot of people who think they can somehow harness psychic powers and use them for their own will. If Oberon is desperate enough, he may think that Pearl's abilities are the only way for him to get back on top," Jaden explained.

"How would he do that?" Pearl asked. She sounded brave, but Jaden could sense her fear.

_"Not in a fun way,"_ he thought. Remembering Axel on the phone, he placed it back to his ear.

"You still watching?" he asked.

_"I saw that and heard what you said,"_ Axel said. _"If that is true, you both need to get out of there and soon."_

"What can you get on short notice?" Jaden asked.

_"Give me two hours," _Axel said.

"You got it, but the authorities will probably be over here to search the house anytime now, you need to hurry," Jaden said.

_"Understood,"_ Axel said. Jaden hung up knowing that he could count on Axel, but hoping that he'd be able to work fast for their sake.

"How fast can you be ready to leave?" Jaden asked Pearl. Pearl seemed rather shocked at the question.

"Do we have to?" Pearl asked. Jaden nodded.

"I'm sorry, but unless you want to go back to the research facility or someplace likely worse, we need to leave soon," he said.

"Jaden's right honey," Mrs. Lite said. "I know he'll take good care of you, but you can't stay here and be safe." Pearl nodded.

"Alright," she said.

"I'll help you pack," Mrs. Lite said, leading the way upstairs. The two of them headed up, leaving Jaden and Justin in the living room. Justin kept an eye on the news with Pharaoh on his lap while Jaden took a quick look around. His eyes followed the trail of pictures that went around the room and back. Most of them were paintings of various things in nature; flowers, lake, birds, etc. But some of them were family photos. Jaden found pictures of Pearl, Mrs. Lite and a younger boy with blonde hair.

"Who's this?" Jaden asked Justin. Justin looked at the photo.

"That's Benjamin, Pearl's little brother," he said.

"Really?" Jaden asked. "Where is he?"

"In hospital," Justin said. "Pearl was teaching him how to duel and she lost control for only a split second. It wasn't as bad as the time with me, but being just small the injuries were more severe. He broke both of his legs, a few ribs and went into a coma. He's slowly coming out of it now and is actually supposed to be released in about three months if everything continues the way it's going. I sometimes go and visit him with Pearl. To be honest, I feel like a big brother with him." Jaden looked at the picture again. Something wasn't right. Once again his eyes moved along the line of family photos until he landed on a full family photo.

There was Mrs. Lite, Pearl, Benjamin and who Jaden assumed to be Mr. Lite. Something was definitely wrong. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lite had blonde hair, just like Benny, but Pearl's hair was a beautiful chestnut brown with the two pink streaks on either side of her face. She stood out completely. Quickly, Jaden glanced behind to make sure that Justin wasn't watching and snapped a picture with his phone. He'd have to look at it better later on.

Mrs. Lite had come downstairs without Pearl to begin packing a few items of food in the kitchen. Jaden noticed that she also put a little bit of money in a small violet coin purse as well. Jaden watched the news with Justin and Pharaoh while this happened, but it wasn't long before he something else happened.

Jaden sensed it before he heard it; desperate malice, eager, hungry, terrible. He knew who it was without even looking. The next thing he heard was banging on the back door. Mrs. Lite looked up and went to answer it, but Jaden grabbed her arm and shook his head. Justin stood up with Pharaoh and watched. Carefully, Jaden unlocked the door, turned the handle and kicked the door out, knocking Oberon back into the backyard.

"From champ to chump and backyard burglar. This is what your life has come to, Oberon and over one loss?" Jaden asked. Oberon got up. He was tall, taller than Jaden had expected from seeing his duels. His outfit was more like a pirate's, black, gold and red on a long jacket over a vest and long-sleeved shirt, with baggy pants and good boots. The only thing that wasn't pirate like was his head, black hair was cropped short in a military style and his eyes were green, speckled with desperation, something that was just as dangerous, if not more so than greed.

"You're strong, boy, but I don't remember asking you for my life story," he said. "Now stand aside. I've come for the psychic." That was when Pearl came back down.

"Jaden, what's going on?" she asked, stepping outside. Oberon grinned and made a charge for the girl. Justin stepped in front of her even as Jaden's eyes changed color briefly as he kicked Oberon back once again.

"You want her, you've got to get through me first," Jaden said.

"Oh please, you're not a challenge," Oberon said. Jaden grinned.

"How do you know that?" Jaden asked. "Duel me, if I win Pearl and I leave."

"Fine, but if I win, I get the girl," Oberon said. Both of them activated their duel disks. Jaden tossed Pearl his bag.

"Hold onto that, would you?" he asked.

"But Jaden, this duel is too risky," Pearl said, taking the bag. "What if you lose?"

"I don't lose," Jaden said, so confidently that Pearl couldn't help but believe him. "Alright ex-champ," Jaden said. "Get your game on!" The duel had begun.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Oberon, the Fallen Fairy

Jaden faced Oberon, ready to fight for his new friend's life. He wasn't sure how he was going to beat Oberon, after all, he was an ex-champ, but Jaden had watched many of his duels and knew his fighting style and that his deck was made up of fairies. He could only hope for the best right then, and it was his move.

"I'll take the first move," Jaden said. "I draw!" He looked at his options and smiled as his eyes landed on his favoured option for his present hand. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode. I'll also set a card face down and let you go." **Clayman: ATK – 800, DEF – 2000.**

"Prepare to be afraid, little boy, I draw," Oberon threatened. "I summon Armageddon Knight in attack mode." Armageddon Knight stood up in front of him: **ATK – 1400, DEF-1200**.

"What is that?" Jaden asked, gazing at the monster. "That monster wasn't in your deck during any of your duels! I would know, I watched them. What happened to your fairies?"

"These are my fairies," Oberon said, grinning maliciously. "They are my dark fairies, my Dark Lord deck." Jaden's eyes went wide. If he'd changed his deck around, how was he supposed to fight? Perhaps it was also a sign that Oberon had lost faith in his deck and was willing to rely on other means to win. "And when Armageddon Knight is summoned, I can send one Dark monster from my deck to my graveyard. So I think I'll discard Hecatrice, and when I do, I can add one Valhalla Hall of the Fallen to my hand," Oberon continued.

_"He hasn't given up," _Jaden realized. _"He still has his original fairies. Hecatrice was one of his favorites. So what happened? I mean, he lost a duel, but so what." _

"Oberon, what's your deal," he asked. "Why do you care if Pearl is psychic or not? What do you have to gain from this?"

"I don't have to answer to you, boy," Oberon said. "I set two cards and end my turn." Jaden was getting frustrated now.

"My turn," he said. He drew a card and considered his opponent. _"He left his monster completely vulnerable for a reason. One of his cards has to be Valhalla, a spell card that allows the controller to special summon a monster as long as it's fairy type and there are no monsters on his field. It could be problematic if I can't destroy it, but I have to do something." _

"I activate a spell," Jaden said. "Polymerization! I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix together to make Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Flame Wingman took the field: **ATK – 2100, DEF-1200**.

"Now, attack with Skydive Scorcher!" Jaden said. Armageddon Knight was easily destroyed and Oberon took 700 points of damage.

"And that's not all," Jaden said. "Since Wingman destroyed your monster, you take damage equal to your monster's attack points." Oberon gasped as he took another 1400 points of damage. "Since my fusion summon was a special summon, I can still normal summon this turn, so I'll summon Wroughtweiler in defense mode." Wroughtweiler pounced onto the field: **ATK – 800, DEF – 1200**.

"So, you see through my plans, do you?" Oberon asked. "In due time."

"I end my turn," Jaden said. Oberon laughed.

"I expected more from the infamous Jaden Yuki," he said. Jaden was taken aback.

"Wait, you know me?" Jaden asked.

"Infamous?" Pearl asked. "What did you do?" Pharaoh meowed and jumped from Justin's arms to rub against her leg, startling her slightly. But when she realized it was only the cat, she picked him up.

"I'll let you in on a secret," Oberon said. "After my defeat, I went looking for some way to get back on top. I studied every top duellist, learned their style, their history everything I could find out about them, and for some odd reason, your name came up on the list."

"Really?" Jaden asked, slightly proud. "I mean, I knew I was good but that good?"

_"Jaden, you're missing the point,"_ Yubel said.

"Jaden Yuki, a Slifer Red for three years, graduate of Duel Academy and general mischief maker," Oberon said. "I've read every tale about you from shadow riders right up to the different dimensions, but after that, it becomes so classified that only the people present and a few others know what happened." Jaden sighed inwardly, relieved. He didn't know the truth about him and that was good.

"However," Oberon continued. "With a duel record of only one loss, you're a pretty talented duellist. But that's not going to stop me from winning. It's my turn now." Oberon drew his card and grinned.

"First, I'll activate Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen, from my hand," Oberon said.

"From your hand?!" Jaden said. _"But then what are his face down cards?"_

"As you know, it allows me to special summon a fairy type monster, as long as there is no monster already on my field. So with this I special summon Dark Valkyria in attack mode!" Oberon declared. The mischievous demon like girl stood in front of him. **ATK – 1800, DEF – 1050.** Jaden thought she kind of looked like Yubel.

"Valkyria is a Gemini type monster, so because I special summoned her, it means I can now give up my normal summon to activate her effect," Oberon said. "I can now place one spell counter on her, to raise her attack points by 300."

**Dark Valkyria – ATK: 2100**

"She's as powerful as Flame Wingman!" Pearl said, from the side.

"Pearl, you need to get out of here," Mrs. Lite said. "They're distracted, go while you have the chance." Pearl gazed at the field for a long moment. Pharaoh meowed quietly in her arms as she set her lips in a firm line.

"No," she said.

"But sweetie."

"No," Pearl said, a little too firmly. "I'm going to stay and support my friend. He risked his life for me, now we're both wanted criminals. It's better to stick together anyway. Besides, there's something different about him. I can feel it. He truly cares what happens to me, just like…" Pearl paused to think a moment. There was only one word to describe someone like Jaden, who would risk his life for a girl he barely knew anything about, just because she needed him, and that word was chivalrous. "Just like a knight," she finished. Justin smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll win," he said. "I know it. We have to be here to support him so that he can." Mrs. Lite didn't look like she liked the idea, but nodded understandingly. She didn't really get the whole game of Duel Monsters, but if there was one thing she did know about it, it was a way to make and keep friends.

"Now, I'll activate one of my face down cards, it's a trap called Karma Cut," Oberon said. "By the effect of this card, I can remove from play one of your monsters and all cards with the same name in your graveyard. And all it costs me is one card." Oberon discarded a card. "So now, your Flame Wingman disappears."

"Wingman!" Jaden said, as he vanished.

"Now, Valkyria attack Clayman!" Oberon said. Valkyria did as she was told and Clayman was destroyed.

"Sorry Clayman," Jaden said.

"You will be soon enough for standing in my way, boy," Oberon said. "I end my turn."

"My turn," Jaden said. He drew his card and gazed at his hand. He had one monster in his hand, specifically Neos, while on his field he had negate attack and Wroughtweiler. He could stop two attacks, and as long as Valkyria remained on his field, Oberon couldn't activate the effect of Valhalla. Plus, Jaden also had all his life points while Oberon was down to 1900. There was only one thing he could do.

"I end my turn," Jaden said, solemnly.

"Jaden!" Pearl called. Oberon simply laughed.

"What? The great Jaden Yuki can't do anything?" he asked, through chuckles. "Well, we'll see how that affects you in the long run. I draw!" Oberon gazed at his hand a moment and then at Jaden's field before laughing to himself.

"You probably think that that little face down card is going to save you, but you're wrong," he said. "I activate the spell card, Heavy Storm." Jaden gasped as all the spell and trap cards on the field disappeared.

"I still have my Wroughtweiler," Jaden said.

"But he doesn't look too well," Oberon said. "I remove one spell counter from Dark Valkyria to destroy your hound!" **Dark Valkyria – ATK: 1800**. Wroughtweiler exploded in a cloud of smoke, leaving Jaden totally defenseless.

_"Darn it!" _he thought. _"If only I could use his effect."_

"Now, I summon Dark Grepher in attack mode!" Oberon said. **Dark Grepher – ATK: 1700, DEF: 1600**. "Since there's nothing standing in my way, double direct attack!" Oberon ordered. Both dark monsters shot forward and Jaden lost 3500 life points.

"Jaden, no!" Pearl shouted as Jaden knelt on the ground. Oberon chuckled.

"Come on Jaden, get up!" Justin cheered.

"What are you going to do now, boy?" he asked. "500 life points to your name, three cards in your hand and an empty field. You've lost, so you might as well surrender the girl to me."

"…has…" Jaden muttered.

"Come again?" Oberon asked. "I can't hear you over the sound of your defeat."

"She has…a name!" Jaden said, looking Oberon in the eye. Pearl was slightly shocked. Oberon was mocking _him_ and he chose to defend _her_?! Who was this boy?

"She isn't just some girl, she isn't the key to your success and she shouldn't be looked at just because she has special abilities," Jaden continued. Slowly, he began to stand up and, despite his weak appearance, his voice never faltered. "Her name is Pearl, she may be different, but she's just as beautiful, if not more than her name suggests. She is a person and like any other person, she has feelings, and she shouldn't be treated as some sort of science experiment! I know what it's like to be scared of yourself, to feel loneliness as though no one understands you and to be miserable because of both those things. I've been there, and it's a dark and dismal world without any end in sight." Oberon was confused now.

"You're making no sense," he said.

"People like you really get to me," Jaden said. "You don't care who you hurt as long as you get what you want. I'm here to show you that the people you hurt matter, and I'll be the one who stops you before you go too far! I draw!" Pearl felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She may not have known this boy for long, but he understood her better than anyone she'd been in contact with since the discovery of her powers. Somehow, she was going to help him, if possible repay him for saving her and for believing in her.

_"There's no end to how much this boy can amaze me," _Justin thought. _"He really is just like a knight. A red armoured knight."_

Jaden gazed at his hand and smiled. There was a combo that he could use, if it worked, but first he had to come to a decision; if he used his power, Oberon would know and possibly the next door neighbours as well, but if he didn't, he couldn't promise that the both of them could run away from him. It was a difficult decision to make, as he was already attracting attention from helping Pearl escape. He didn't think he could take much more publicity.

"Jaden!" Pearl called. Jaden turned around. "Whatever you're going to do, do it!" Jaden looked slightly surprised. Pearl placed a hand over her heart. "Take him down! We'll support you all the way!" They held eye contact for a moment longer before Jaden nodded and smiled.

"Together then," he said, quietly. "I have your support! I activate the Fake Hero spell card! With this I can special summon one Elemental Hero from my hand, so I pick Elemental Hero Neos!" **Elemental Hero Neos – ATK: 2500, DEF: 2000**. "Of course, the monster summoned with this card can't attack and returns to my hand at the end phase," Jaden answered.

"What good is it then?" Oberon asked. Jaden grinned.

"You'll see after I activate my Convert Contact spell card," he said. "With this, by sending one Neo-Spacian from my hand and my deck, I'm allowed to draw two cards. I send Black Panther from my hand and Aqua Dolphin from my deck to the graveyard. Here we go." Jaden drew his two cards and looked at them triumphantly. He was holding Air Hummingbird and Winged Kuriboh.

"I summon Air Hummingbird to the field," Jaden said. **Air Hummingbird – ATK: 800, DEF: 600**. "Now, Neos, Hummingbird, Contact fusion!" Jaden ordered. The two monsters flew into the air and merged. "Now, I fusion summon Elemental Hero Air Neos!" **Elemental Hero Air Neos – ATK: 2500, DEF: 2000**.

"You still can't beat me," Oberon said. "I'll have some life points left over."

"Not once I activate Air Neos' special ability," Jaden said. "All that damage you dealt me has really come in handy, because the difference between our life points now is given to Air Neos as attack points." **Air Neos – ATK: 3900**.

"3900?!" Oberon asked. "That's impossible!"

"This is what you get for not valuing a life," Jaden said. "Air Neos, attack Dark Grepher!" Jaden ordered. Just before Air Neos struck, Jaden used his power to make him real. Oberon shouted in fear as he took 2200 points of damage. The explosion caused from his attack knocked Oberon into the fence and charred the backyard. With the fence only half standing and Oberon clearly knocked out, Jaden took his victory. Pearl and Justin ran over to him as Air Neos disappeared and Jaden turned off his duel disk. Pearl was smiling as she handed back his bag and placed Pharaoh on the ground.

"That was amazing," she said. "I've never seen anything like that."

"Get used to it, because I don't think Oberon is going to take this one lying down," Jaden said. "We need to get as far away from here as possible ASAP."

"I know," Pearl said. "But…do you mind if I say goodbye to my brother?" Jaden looked at her curiously. Pearl's gaze softened. "I promised him I'd teach him to duel, and with the current situation, I might not be back for a while," she explained. "I want to tell him that I'll keep my promise to him, someday, when I'm back." Jaden grinned slightly. That was the one thing he'd never done after he left the academy; say goodbye.

"Okay, but we'll need to be quick," he said.

"I'm coming too," Justin said. Jaden nodded.

"Benny is on the fourth floor, emergency department, room number 402," Mrs. Lite said. It was then the sound of sirens could be heard from far away.

"Mrs. Lite, you should tell the police once we're gone," Jaden said. "Tell them Oberon came looking for Pearl, but Pearl showed up and knocked him out before leaving again." Mrs. Lite nodded. Pearl looked at her mom for a second.

"Thanks for everything, mom," she said.

"Be safe," Mrs. Lite said. Jaden placed Pharaoh in his bag for speeds sake and slung the bag over his shoulder. Pearl did the same with her backpack and then the three of them hurried out the backyard towards the hospital.

The hospital didn't seem to be protected or anything, although Jaden had a sneaking suspicion that Benny's room would be under guard. If that was true, they'd have to distract the guards long enough to get in, say goodbye and get out. Either way, they got in the hospital and took the short elevator ride up to the fourth floor.

"We'll need to distract the guards," Pearl said, saying exactly what Jaden was thinking.

"I've been thinking the same thing," Jaden said. "How well can you control your powers?"

"Not well enough," Pearl said, sadly. Justin once again placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jaden grinned slightly.

"Can you use it well enough to knock over something big enough that the police officers would have to help?" Jaden asked. Pearl smiled and nodded. The elevator doors opened and the three of them peeked out.

"This way," Pearl said, quietly. Jaden and Justin followed her down the hall until they reached the Emergency Department. Then they took it slowly, checking around every corner just in case, until they saw the officers sitting outside the door.

"Make sure what you knock down isn't going to hurt people," Jaden whispered. Pearl nodded and focused. She knew there were a few wire shelving units in the next hall over. They didn't have a lot of dangerous things on them, but they'd make a loud enough noise and a big enough mess that the two officers would feel obliged to help. A loud bang on the other side and a shocked scream told the two boys that she'd done it. The officers instinctively moved to help and Jaden, Justin and Pearl snuck in behind them and entered the room.

There was only one bed occupied in the room. A young boy, no more than ten with blonde hair was lying there, sleeping peacefully. His both his legs were broken and he had several scars along his face with stiches. It was then that Jaden saw the true capabilities of Pearl's power and the reason she was detained. She was dangerous, both to herself and the people around her. However, locking someone up isn't the way to keep people safe. The best way was to teach them and help them control what power they had. That was what Jaden had to do.

Pearl gazed at her little brother with sorrow in her heart and tears in her eyes. This is what had happened to him because she couldn't control herself. It might have been an accident, but it was still her fault. Somehow, she had to make sure that she wouldn't ever cause this much pain to someone she cared about ever again. Justin gave her a gentle hug and a small push forward so she could sit on the side of Benny's bed.

"Benjamin," she said, quietly. Benny's eyes fluttered open at the sound of his sister's voice.

"Pearl?" he asked, drowsily.

"I'm here, Benny," Pearl said. "I'm so sorry for this."

"It's not your fault," Benny said. Pearl smiled.

"Listen, I'm going away for a while," she said, sadly. "I don't know when I'll be back, but I will be, okay?"

"But our duelling," Benny said. "You promised."

"And I'll keep that promise," Pearl said. She placed a small deck box on the table beside him. "I was saving this for your next birthday, but I might not be here. While I'm gone, I want you to learn this deck, okay? Find combinations and plan strategies, and when I come back, we'll have a duel, okay?"

"Okay," Benny said, with a small nod. Pearl's eyes filled with tears again. She placed her head against his.

"I love you, little bro," she said. "If you don't remember anything else, remember that."

"Okay," Benny said.

"And don't you worry, Pearl," Justin said. "I'll be here to take care of him and help him where he needs it." Pearl nodded.

"Pearl, we should go," Jaden said. Pearl gently kissed her brother's forehead and headed to the door with Justin. Jaden went to follow, but Benny caught his hand.

"Please," he said. "Keep my sister safe." Jaden looked into his hazel eyes and nodded.

"I will," he said. With that they left, but not unnoticed as they had hoped. The guards were just coming back when they spotted the two of them.

"Hey you!" one of them said.

"Run," Jaden said. The three of them ran down the hallway as fast as they could. Jaden knew they couldn't get to the elevator in time, but there was a set of stairs leading to the second story parking garage outside.

"Turn left!" he said. Pearl didn't argue. The three of them made a sharp left and out the emergency exit, setting off an alarm in the process. Jaden cursed under his breath as they ran down the stairs, into the garage and jumped the bar five feet to the next level down. The three of them hid behind a group of cars and waited.

"We need to get out of this city," Jaden said. "Probably out of the state as well."

"How do we do that?" Pearl asked.

"I'm going to call a friend and see if he's gotten us some transportation yet," Jaden said. "Can you hold them off a little?"

"I'll try, but I might end up bringing the place down," Pearl said, carefully.

"We'll keep moving then," Jaden said. "Let's go." Without further discussion, Jaden whipped out his phone while Pearl summoned a familiar monster – namely Gem Knight Garnet.

"My lady, what would you have of me?" Garnet asked, respectfully.

"Please, keep them busy, but don't hurt them if possible," Pearl said.

"I will do as you ask," he said, bowing. Justin smiled proudly. As the police came around the corner, Garnet's firsts burst into flames.

"I will not let you have my lady," he said. "Flaming Iron Fist!" Garnet punched the ground and threw the cops everywhere as they continued out. Jaden was busy on his phone.

_"Hello,"_ said a voice on the other end.

"It's me," Jaden said. "We need to get out of state as soon as possible. Have you gotten us the transportation yet?"

_"Two train tickets from Great Falls, Montana to Casper, Wyoming,"_ Axel said. _"Your train leaves at quarter to two, so get moving."_

"Thanks man," Jaden said, as he hung up. Garnet was just sending another barrage of flames at the cops when Jaden grabbed Pearl's hand.

"Train station," he said. "We need to go now."

"Thanks for your help, Garnet," Pearl said.

"I am always at your service, My Lady," Garnet said with a bow before disappearing. Justin led the way out of the parking garage with Jaden and Pearl and ran out into the street and down the nearest alleyway before the cops came out. Vanished without a trace onto the next city.

Did you like the duel? If anyone has any suggestions for the next duels, please message me! Are you guys sensing the suspense I've put in here? Or I guess you could call them clues. Don't ask me about them, all will become clear in the end...not the end of this story. This one is going to turn into a series if I keep at it. Any suggestions, critics, comments or any message is welcome. Don't hold back people, you inspire me. Next chapter will be up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Train to Casper

The three of them made it to the train station quickly enough without the cops chasing them. Hopefully, no one would recognize them here. The three of them leaned against a wall to catch their breath.

"I don't think...I've ever run...so fast...in my life," Pearl gasped.

"Here I thought...I was...in shape," Justin said, half gasping himself. Jaden smiled, took a deep breath and let it out. They were safe, now they just had to get on a train. Of course, Jaden had no idea which train or how Axel was going to send him their tickets. After pondering this for a brief moment, he pulled out his phone and called.

_"Hello,"_ Axel said on the other end.

"It's me," Jaden said. "We're at the train station, and in need of those tickets. How do you plan on getting them to us?"

_"Don't worry, I've already planned this all out,"_ Axel said, reminding Jaden that this was a man who didn't do anything unless he knew his every option. It was something that Jaden admired, but not a quality that he shared. _"The train station uses an electronic system in the purchase of train tickets,"_ Axel continued. _"I've already hacked into the security cameras."_ Jaden turned and spotted on of the cameras following him. He smiled and waved.

"So, what do you want me to do?" he asked.

_"Go to one of the systems,"_ Axel instructed. Jaden did as he was told, intrigued by the device in front of him.

"Alright," Jaden said. "What now?"

_"Just stand there and look busy while I do my thing,"_ Axel said. Jaden did and watched as the various buttons began to light up. Jaden did his best to follow them with his hand, but Axel could move faster than he could. Just a few moments later, two tickets slid out of a little slot and Jaden claimed them.

"I got them," Jaden said.

_"Alright, Pharaoh will have to go in a kennel, but the trip will only be about seven hours," _Axel said. _"He should be fine. Give me a call when you get there."_

"Will do," Jaden said. "Thanks" With that, he hung up and headed back to where Justin and Pearl were resting against the wall. Both of them stood up when they saw him approaching.

"I got the tickets," he said. "Pearl, it's time for us to go." Pearl looked slightly shocked, but it cleared as she turned to Justin.

"I wish you could come with us," she said.

"Hey, I have to stay here and watch Benny," Justin said. "You need to go. Jaden is going to teach you how to control your powers so that when you can come back, you and I can have a no holds duel!" Pearl grinned at her friend's enthusiasm. It soon faded as she realized it might be a long time before she could see him again. Justin noticed and smiled.

"We'll see each other again," he said. "There's no doubt about that."

"You think so?" Pearl asked with a small tear in her eye. Justin nodded and gave her a hug.

"I'll be waiting for you," he whispered. Pearl returned the hug and stepped behind Jaden. The two boys looked at each other and clasped hands.

"You take care of her," Justin said.

"Count on it," Jaden said. "I'll bring her back safe and sound."

"You'd better," Justin said with a smile. Jaden smiled too. He really liked this boy, he seemed like a kind hearted person and Jaden knew that there weren't too many of those around anymore.

"Bye," Justin said.

"Catch ya later," Jaden said. With that, Pearl and Jaden hurried to get a kennel for Pharaoh while Justin turned around and headed home.

Pharaoh wasn't too found about being stuck into a small confined space, but finally climbed in and Jaden watched as he was wheeled away with a lot of luggage. Jaden and Pearl had opted to keep their bags as they were small and easily stored by their feet. Axel had gotten them first class tickets, so the two of them climbed into the right car and took their seats at the table with their seat numbers. They sat across from each other as the train departed for Casper Wyoming.

As the train started slowly down the tracks, Jaden glanced out the window and spotted a few cops begin to trickle in. He grinned and sat back so that his face was no longer visible from the window.

_"That was close,"_ he said.

_"Indeed it was,"_ Yubel agreed. _"Hopefully, we'll have a quieter time in Casper."_

_ "I doubt it. Whenever we get into something like this, it never calms down until we win,"_ Jaden said. _"And we will win."_

"Do you really think you can help me control my powers?" Pearl asked suddenly, drawing Jaden out of his thoughts. Jaden looked across the table at her. She was gazing out the window with a sad, longing look in her eyes. Jaden knew it'd be difficult for her to be away from her family and friends, but this was just as important. Jaden quickly glanced around the train car to see who else was there. Only a few people, most of them sleeping or with computers and headphones in. They could talk freely.

"First of all, Pearl, I can't control them for you," Jaden said. "However, I can teach you how to bring them under control. Let's try something simple. Pick one of your low level monsters. Preferably a small one. Let's not try and destroy the train before we get to Casper." Jaden had said it with a smile, but he was serious. If either of them summoned a monster too big in the little train car, it could be hazardous. Naturally, Jaden chose Winged Kuriboh. Pearl chose her own card and nodded.

"This is a simple enough exercise, all you have to do is place your card on the table and call out its spirit," Jaden said. Both of them did just that. Winged Kuriboh appeared as a spirit and was greeted by an orange armadillo that Pearl summoned. Kuriboh was slightly shocked and hid behind Jaden's shoulder. Pearl chuckled.

"Don't worry, he won't bite," she said. "This is Gem-Armadillo, I just call him Agate."

"Why would you name him a gate?" Jaden asked. Pearl placed a hand to her head. This boy's naivety never ceased to amaze her.

"It's one word," Pearl explained. "Agate is a type of gemstone, specifically related to quartz that comes in a fiery orange color. It was used by the Egyptians three thousand years ago."

"Okay, but my question still stands," Jaden said. "Why did you name him?"

"Because, I didn't feel right calling him Gem or Armadillo," Pearl said. "Also, I couldn't name him after any of the other gems I have in my deck, so I had to find a better name that wasn't taken. Agate seemed to fit him perfectly. I did that with a few of my cards."

"I'd like to meet them," Jaden said. Pearl smiled and pulled out three more cards; an elephant, a turtle and…something that wasn't an animal, but looked more like a very small and triangular magician. Pearl passed Jaden the elephant first. His card name was Gem-Elephant and he looked like a normal elephant, only he had red tusks and red kneecaps as well as feet and various other red crystals along his trunk, back and stomach.

"I call him Andesine," Pearl said. "It's a bright red gemstone with a mystery that surrounds it. No one really knows where it came from. It's a harder gemstone, so I thought that it would be perfect to describe my Gem-Elephant." Jaden smiled and passed the card back.

Pearl passed him the next card, Gem-Turtle, a strong defensive monster with a pure green crystal shell, with spots of green crystal on his head and legs. Jaden thought this one reminded him of Emerald turtle.

"I call him Diopside," Pearl said. "It's a relatively new gem and not very popular yet. The myth behind it though, I found interesting. Some people believe that it fell from the tree of life at the beginning of time and could renew life. It's also associated with peace and tranquility and used during sleep to ensure sweet dreams. Diopside is my lucky card."

"With a crystal like that, I'm not surprised," Jaden said. Agate made a cooing sound as Jaden passed back the card. Pearl then passed him the last of the cards, the magician that almost resembled a top with a hat. He had a light blue crystal right in his chest.

"That one is Gem-Merchant," Pearl explained. "I prefer calling him Apatite."

"That's a cool name," Jaden said. "Makes me hungry."

"You wouldn't believe the kind of apatite this guy has," Pearl agreed. "Apatite is actually a very rare and unknown stone with absolutely no lore or anything. Really, I named him Apatite because it often comes in a light blue color, and he has a major apatite." Jaden passed him back.

"Why don't we practice some more?" Jaden asked. Pearl looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, originally, I was going to have you make Agate come to life as practice, but I really want to meet your cards now, so let's have a pick up duel and use our powers to make the spirits appear instead. That way, you get to practice, no one gets hurt, and I get to meet your cards."

"The triple win, huh," Pearl said. "I guess I can't deny that. But I don't have a playing mat."

"Don't worry, I always carry an extra mat with me, just in case," Jaden said. With that, Jaden pulled out two pick-up mats and passed one to Pearl. They set up fast and then handed each other their decks to be shuffled. Jaden noticed that when he passed Pearl back her deck, she gave it a kiss, something that Jaden didn't quite understand, but didn't stop to question it either. They both drew five cards and gazed intently at the other.

"Duel," they said together.

"Get your game on, Pearl," Jaden said. "I'll take the first move."

"Show me how it's done," Pearl agreed. She was smiling and Jaden smiled too. He had learned that Pearl took everything to heart, if she didn't believe she could win, she wouldn't try, if she lost her friends, she wouldn't stay and so on. If this duel could teach her to smile, then it would all be worth it.

"Alright, I draw," Jaden said. "I think I'll start with Sparkman in attack mode." A little spirit of Sparkman appeared above the card. **ATK – 1600, DEF – 1400.** "And I'll end with two facedown cards. Your move." Pearl smiled and drew her card.

"Indeed it is, and I'll begin with setting one monster in facedown defense position," Pearl said. "And I'll set this for later. I now dispense to you."

"Alright, I draw," Jaden said. He eyed Pearl's face down monster with curiosity. There were few people who still placed their monsters in facedown defensive position, and those who did usually used flip effects or were bating their opponent in to attack and lose. Of course, Jaden couldn't just do nothing, but if he did decide to attack, he'd have to use a monster with higher attack to try and get a victory. He gazed at his hand for a moment and his eyes landed on his favorite spell card.

"I'll activate my polymerization spell card," Jaden said. "With this, I'll fuse Sparkman with Necroshade to create Elemental Hero Dark Bright!" **ATK – 2000, DEF – 1000. **"Now, Darkbright, attack Pearl's facedown monster! Go dark flash!" The little spirit of Darkbright shot at Pearl's facedown, which Pearl flipped face up to reveal a knight in blue armor.

"You've just attack Gem-Knight Sapphire," Pearl said. **Gem-Knight Sapphire: ATK – 0, DEF – 2100.** "Go Sapphire Surge!" Jaden took a hundred points of damage and Darkbright retreated.

"You can't defeat a knight so easily, Jaden," Pearl said. "Sapphire doesn't speak, but his control of water is more than enough to protect me."

"Not bad," Jaden said. "I'll end my turn, and because I have, Darkbright switches to defense mode."

"Thank you, I'll draw," Pearl said. "Remember Garnet, cause he certainly hasn't forgotten you, and now he wants to come out and play." The red armoured knight took the field in attack mode. **ATK – 1900, DEF – 0.** "And now to attack. Garnet, Flaming Iron Fist!"

_"Gladly,"_ Garnet said.

"Sorry, but I have a problem with this," Jaden said. "I activate my trap, Draining Shield. Not only does it negate your attack, but also raises my life points by your monster's attack points!" As Garnet retreated to stand by Sapphire, Jaden's life points increased to 5800.

"I'll set two cards and end my turn," Pearl said. Garnet's attack returned to normal. **Garnet: ATK – 1900.**

"My turn then," Jaden said as he drew a card. "By the way, how's this practice for you?"

"Actually really good," Pearl said. "I have to concentrate to keep both my monsters spirits visible. This was a good idea. Plus, I believe that duelling is a good way to bond with friends."

"You and me both, sister," Jaden said. "Now, I don't have anything to summon this turn, but I can still attack, so I change Darkbright to attack mode and I'll have him attack Garnet!"

"I won't let you!" Pearl said. "I activate my trap card Compulsory Evacuation Device!" Jaden looked slightly alarmed.

"What does that do?" he asked.

"Simple, I pick one monster on my field and return it to my hand," Pearl said. "Garnet, return to me." She picked up Garnet's card and Darkbright's attack passed over, unable to do any damage.

"You seem to really like that card," Jaden observed. "Let me guess, card crush?"

"I guess you could say that, but it also works the other way too," Pearl said. "Garnet was the first Gem-Knight who talked to me. He introduced me to all the cards in my deck and he's the one who's been trying to help me control my powers. He does it because he likes me and along the way, I started to really like him."

"I don't blame you," Jaden said. "He's a really great card. All your cards are. Anyway, I'll set a card and end my turn, so Darkbright switches to defense mode again."

"Then it's my turn," Pearl said. She drew a card and seemed slightly surprised. "Guess what Jaden; you'll get to see some of my more powerful cards during this duel. I activate Gem-Knight Fusion!"

"Say what?" Jaden asked.

_"I've never heard of that card before,"_ Yubel agreed.

"It's a special fusion card meant specifically for Gem-Knight fusion summons. With this I'll fuse Garnet and Gem-Knight Sardonyx to create Gem-Knight Ruby!" Pearl said. The knight who appeared before Jaden was also dressed in red armour with a violet cap and a red axe. **ATK – 2500, DEF – 1300.**

"Fierce monster," Jaden commented.

"You're about to find that out first hand," Pearl said. "When this guy attacks a monster in defense mode, you still take damage equal to the difference between our monster's points. So, let's get rid of your Darkbright. Ruby attack, Blazing Ruby Axe!"

_"As you command,"_ Ruby said, and struck down Darkbright in a single blow. Jaden took fifteen hundred points of damage, bringing him back down to 4300 life points, but the force of his attack and Pearl's untrained powers caused a small wind that blew their cards across the table and onto the floor, ending the game before it could be decided.

"Powerful monster," Jaden said. Pearl looked slightly guilty.

"Sorry," she said.

"Hey, it's alright," Jaden said. "We'll have to do this again sometime to decide a winner, but for now, we'll call it a draw." Pearl picked up her Gem-Knight Ruby and a small spirit appeared out of the card.

_"Sorry, milady," _he said. _"Perhaps more practice would do us both good."_

"Agreed, Ruby," Pearl said. "Thanks for your help." The spirit of Ruby bowed and disappeared. Jaden smiled and picked up another card, it was Gem-Knight Fusion. There was something familiar about the picture on the card, but he shrugged it off and passed the card to Pearl.

The two of them finished gathering their cards and sat back down across from each other. They sat in silence for about half an hour happily, despite the outcome of the duel. Jaden had to admit that Pearl's deck was pretty cool. A deck of knights with the power of the gems. It kind of reminded Jaden about Jesse and his deck. Both used crystal based decks and both decks were only loyal to one duellist, yet there was something about Pearl's deck that was different from Jesse's, something that Jaden couldn't quite put his finger on.

An image of her Gem-Knight Fusion spell card flashed before his memory. Something was familiar about that one card, yet his memory wouldn't tell him what it was. He shrugged it off figuring he'd remember it at some later point. There was something else that he was curious about that he could find the answer to.

"So Pearl, I'm curious," Jaden said. "How exactly did you and Justin meet?" Pearl seemed sort of surprised by the question, but her whole body seemed to relax, or maybe she was just lost in memory. Either way, she seemed almost sad as she spoke.

"It's not a day I like to remember," Pearl admitted. "It wasn't the greatest of first impressions, but Justin didn't seem to care and saw right through me to who I really was without me having to correct myself. We were in middle school, specifically grade eight. Everyone at school knew about my ability and feared me, or mocked me because of it. It got really bad. I became so desperate for relief that I actually considered killing myself. Until that day came…"

**(Flashback)**

Tears rolled down Pearl's cheek and sparkled in the mocking sun as a group of bullies cornered her. They were outside behind the school and Pearl was afraid. Their name calling and laughter were driving her mad, but if she tried to get them to go away, would she hurt them?

"Freak!"

"You don't belong here!"

"Psycho!"

"What are you going to do?!"

"Come on, duellist; give it your best shot!"

"Monster!"

This last insult especially hit home. Pearl closed her eyes and wished it all away; the insults, the bullies, even her own life. Unable to take it anymore, she activated her duel disk and summoned Familiar Knight: **ATK – 1200, DEF – 1400.**

"Stay away from her!" Familiar Knight demanded, slicing his sword through the crowd and into the ground. The bullies ran in fear as he slashed again.

"Don't hurt them," Pearl said softly. Despite the noise and her soft voice, Familiar Knight heard her and let up his attack as all the bullies ran as far away as possible. Pearl crouched against the school wall as Familiar Knight returned and knelt in front of the little girl.

"Are you alright, milady?" he asked.

"I can't do this anymore, Familiar," Pearl said in tears. "I don't want to go through this anymore!" Familiar Knight sighed, indicating a sad look behind his hidden face.

"I know, Pearl, but you have to stay strong," he said. "It will pass."

"I'm sorry, but I can't believe that," Pearl said. Before Familiar Knight could object, Pearl removed his card and placed it back in her deck causing him to disappear. She then place her duel disk in her backpack and pulled out a small pocket knife that she'd started carrying around with her for a month.

"He's right you know," said a boy with brown hair coming around the corner. "You can't just run away from your problems." Pearl backed away from this boy and then ran into the forest. She didn't stop until she reached the large creek near the back of the property. She turned around and waited to see if the boy had followed her, but couldn't see him. Pearl turned back to the creek and pulled the knife part away from safety cover, placing the sharp end to her wrist.

_"This is where it ends,"_ she thought. _"The creek will run red with my own blood and my life will become a part of the water." _

"Killing yourself doesn't solve anything," the boy said, startling Pearl. She turned around to see the dark haired boy standing just a few feet away. "All it does is create more problems in the world."

"Why do you care?" Pearl said. "I'm a monster, I deserve to die!"

"Did they tell you that?" the boy asked taking another step towards her. Pearl shuffled back a step. "You shouldn't believe anything they say. When people are scared, they say things they don't necessarily mean," he continued.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" Pearl asked. "Why don't you think I'm a monster?"

"Well for one, you're far too pretty to be a monster," the boy said. Pearl's eyes widened and the knife moved further away from her wrist.

"Pretty?" she asked.

"Ya, you're pretty, and your talent is pretty too," the boy said, daring another step.

"A talent?" Pearl asked. Anger and hurt had returned to her voice. "It's a curse, one I want to be rid of!"

"I know it seems like that," the boy said. "But even a curse can be used for good. I believe that you can do it." Pearl looked away.

"If you were to kill yourself right now, the world would've lost a beautiful gem, one that could shine despite its impurities. Pearl, don't do this. Someone somewhere will need your gift someday, and who knows what could happen to them if you die right now," the boy said. Pearl looked up.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Justin," the boy said. "I'm the one who wants to be your knight." Pearl seemed surprised.

"My knight?" she asked. She looked away as tears started to flow again.

"Familiar Knight believes in you, and so do I," Justin said. He was now right in front of her and held out a hand for the knife. Pearl looked into his green eyes and saw that they were honest and sparkled with kindness. Pearl placed the knife in his hand and watched as he closed it up. Pearl cried then, cried so hard that she fell to the ground. Justin never left her for the entire time that she cried, but held her tightly as though he were trying to protect her from all the cares and fears of the world. Neither of them made it to anymore classes that day.

**(End of Flashback)**

Jaden and Pearl held each other's gaze for a moment as Jaden let the story sink in. This girl had been close to the edge and been brought back by Justin, a very understanding and caring boy who saw the good in everyone.

"For the rest of the year, Justin never left my side for as long as he could. He'd walk to my house to pick me up, sit beside me in every class and walk me home again," Pearl said. "I felt like he wanted to make sure that I got completely out of the dark hole I'd fallen into before he left me alone. But even after we finished eighth grade, he would still follow the same routine. It was a habit now, one that neither of us wanted to break." Pearl pulled something out of her pocket and placed it on the table. Jaden realized it was the pocket knife she'd tried to kill herself with.

"He gave it back to me at the end of eighth grade," Pearl said. "I kept it to always remind me of why I made the decision to trust him. In our walks together, we'd always pass a card shop, and one day there was a white haired man in a red suit giving the store owner a deck to sell. I realized immediately that the deck was full of good monster spirits. Later, Justin ended up buying me the deck and it's the deck I still use. I guess that's kind of where we're at now. Justin became more than just my knight, in a way, he became my prince." Pearl was blushing now and Jaden realized how strong their bond was.

"Pearl," Jaden said. Pearl looked up at the seriousness in his eyes, but there was also happiness. "You made the right decision. I'm glad I got to meet you." Pearl fell asleep not too long after this, leaving Jaden to watch the country fly by and think about what pearl had told him.

_"She came so close to the edge and was pulled back by Justin,"_ he thought. _"She really does sound like me."_

_"The question now is; are you going to tell her the truth about yourself?"_ Yubel asked. Jaden looked at Pearl's sleeping form and made his decision.

_"One day I will, but only when I know she's ready," _Jaden said. _"Her story was sad, mine is dark and that's a burden I won't let her bear just yet."_ Jaden returned to gazing out the window.

_"Four hours left before we reach Casper,"_ he said. _"I hate train rides."_

* * *

Sorry to have ended the duel the way I did. I can't reveal everything about Pearl's deck just yet. Besides, they'll have a real duel either in the next chapter or the chapter after...I'm not quite sure how it's going to turn out yet. Anyway, critics are always welcome, hope you enjoyed chapter 4 and please be patient for chapter 5. Thanks for all the great comments on the last chapter. :);)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Casper City Annual Duel Fair

Even though the train ride seemed to go on forever, the two duellists eventually made it to Casper Central Station and unloaded before going to search for Pharaoh. Before they could find him, Jaden's phone rang.

"Your friend?" Pearl asked.

"He always calls at the right time," Jaden said. "Keep looking, I'll catch up to you in a moment." Pearl nodded and left as Jaden answered the phone.

_"It's me,"_ Axel said. _"Just thought I'd check and see if you need any more money."_

"I am in need of a little more cash," Jaden admitted. "Now that I've got Pearl, things aren't going to be overly cheap anymore."

_"Alright,"_ Axel said. _"I've booked you both a hotel room in three hotels. That should last you for about two weeks if you need them. I'm thinking that you should try and pass Pearl off as your sister or your cousin to avoid too much attention."_

"Sounds good to me," Jaden said. "We're already feeling closer."

"_I'm also signing you both up for a duel contest that'll take place over the next few days,"_ Axel added.

"Wait, you're signing _both_ of us up?" Jaden asked.

_"If there are two of you competing, you'll have a better chance of winning,"_ Axel pointed out.

"But Pearl can't fully control her abilities," Jaden retorted. "If we put her into a duel contest and she loses control, who knows how many people could get hurt."

_"The way I see it, the only way she can learn to control her powers is by using them,"_ Axel countered. _"I'm putting her in the contest. If she feels like she's going to lose control, she can always back out." _

"But Axel," Jaden protested.

_"Sorry Jaden, but she's been signed up. The competition begins tomorrow. I'm sending the rules, location and a list of duelists who've entered to your phone. You've got some planning to do,"_ Axel said. With that he hung up, leaving Jaden with no choice and slightly annoyed. Mainly because he knew Axel was partially right. If Pearl wanted to learn, she'd have to practice and a duel contest was the perfect opportunity to do that.

"I hate it when he's right," Jaden muttered. It was then that Pearl came running up with Pharaoh in her arms.

"Jaden, I found him," she said. Jaden smiled and patted the fat cat's head.

"Good, now that we're all here," Jaden said, taking Pharaoh and placing him on the ground, much to the cat's disappointment. "Axel has set us up with a hotel room at three different hotels in case we need to move around any. That should help us for the next two weeks or so. He also suggested that we pretend to be siblings or cousins. Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Pearl said with a smile. "I've always wanted a big brother."

"Personally, I think cousins would be easier to manage," Jaden said.

"Sure thing, Cousin," Pearl teased. Jaden smiled. It was good that she had cheered up, she had a pretty smile.

"Come on, let's check into the hotel," Jaden said, checking the location sent to him by Axel. It wasn't far from the train station. Probably just a ten minute walk to a place called Days Inn Casper. In that time, Jaden would have to come up with a plan to convince Pearl to compete in the tournament.

"Follow me," Jaden said, leading the way out of the station.

"Aye, aye, cousin!" Pearl teased, following. Pharaoh meowed in annoyance and followed as well.

The hotel looked great from the outside. Jaden realized that the name of the inn was actually a brand name, Days Inn, not Days Inn Casper, even though that's where it was located. Jaden decided it'd be better to hide Pharaoh in his back pack, just until they got past the front desk. So, Pharaoh got placed back in the bag, much to his enjoyment and the two of them headed in. The inside was warm, inviting and bright, just the kind of place you'd want to stay. The woman at the front desk was dark haired and had dark eyes and tan skin.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Ya, we're supposed to have a room booked here," Jaden said.

"Name," the woman asked, shifting to the computer beside her.

"Jaden Yuki," Jaden said. The woman typed it in to the computer and smiled.

"Yes you are," she said. "Room for two, right?"

"That's right, my cousin and I are travelling duellists," Jaden said.

"Isn't that exciting," the woman said. "Would you both like a room key?"

"Yes please," Jaden said. The woman passed two key cards to Jaden.

"Room 236 down this hallway," she said, indicating the door. "What time would you like your wakeup call?"

"8:00 if you don't mind," Jaden said.

"Sure thing, have a nice stay," the woman said.

"Thank you," Jaden said. "Come on Pearl." The two of them hurried to open the door with their key and proceeded to the end of the hall where room 236 was. The inside of the room wasn't too big, but fit two queen sized beds nicely, had a bathroom near the entrance, a window, TV and a work desk. It also sported two bedside tables, each with its own lamp.

"This is nice," Jaden said. "I mean, I've stayed in good inns before, but this one takes the cake."

"There's no limit to how your personality can amaze me, is there?" Pearl asked, quietly. Jaden evidently didn't hear her as he placed his bag down on one of the beds and pulled Pharaoh out. Only then did he remember something he needed to tell Pearl before she found out by accident.

"Oh ya," he said. "Hey Pearl, I forgot I have to introduce you to one more person. Come on Pharaoh, open up." Pearl looked at this boy curiously but was amazed when the overweight cat yawned and a firefly flew out – or at least what she thought was a firefly. That light took the form of a transparent man with glasses, brock eyes and long black hair that was tied back. Pearl thought about screaming, but that passed in a moment.

"Pearl, this is Professor Banner," Jaden said. "He was a teacher at Duel Academy, until…well….until he became a spirit."

"It's nice to meet you Pearl," Banner said. Pearl lifted a hand.

"Hey," she said, forcefully.

"Pharaoh is his cat," Jaden said. "He chose to stick around and make sure I didn't get into too much trouble."

"Believe me, easier said than done," Banner said. Pearl smiled at that and physically relaxed. Sure, Banner had scared her, but he seemed like a nice guy.

"Anyway, I'm glad that Jaden was able to get you to safety," Banner continued. "The world of science may be interesting, but it can also be intrusive and I hate to think what could've happened to you if Jaden hadn't gotten you out. By the way, where are we?"

"Casper Wyoming," Pearl said. "Jaden wasn't the only one to try and 'rescue' me. Oberon broke in later and then came to my house. Jaden beat him in a duel and now we're here."

"My, my, I leave you for a day and this happens," Banner said. "But I must ask; why did Oberon want you." While they were talking, Jaden began to look through the information that Axel had sent him on contest rules and currently applied participants.

"He thinks that my psychic powers can help him get back on top of the pro league," Pearl said. "I don't know how he thinks he can do that, but I don't really want to find out."

"I don't blame you," Banner said. "Some things are better left undiscovered."

"Agreed," Pearl said. Then she noticed Jaden carefully studying something on his phone. "And what are you doing, cousin?" she asked, leaning over.

"The friend I was talking to on the phone decided to sign us both up for a local duelling tournament that starts tomorrow," Jaden said. "I'm just checking out the rules and competition."

"Wait, signed _both_ of us up?" Pearl asked.

"I told him not to, but he signed you up too," Jaden said. "His point was that the only way to master your powers is to use them and a light tournament is the perfect place for that. I hate it when he's right." This last part was said quieter and was more or less just Jaden talking to himself. Pearl backed up a little bit.

"But…what if I lose control," Pearl asked. "I don't want to see more people hurt because of me."

"Don't worry, it looks like the competitors are more or less locals, not professionals," Jaden said. "There are professionals in this area who are competing, but you won't have to duel anyone too hard. If you feel like you're losing control, then you can just back out." Pearl didn't look so sure.

"Don't worry," Banner encouraged. "Jaden is right. The only way to master something is to practice it, so if you want to master your abilities, then you need to learn how to use them and how to control them and the only way to do that is by using them." Pearl still looked sceptical, but she grinned slightly anyway.

"Okay, what are the rules?" Pearl asked.

"The duelling will take place at assigned locations and will be paired randomly. Everyone is required to check in by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow at the Casper Annual Fair Grounds. Pretty basic stuff otherwise. Basic tournament rules and other things," Jaden said. "The fairgrounds however extend over several acres of land. Duels are expected to take place in various portions of the theme park, like on rollercoasters, in haunted houses and on the Farris wheel. This should be interesting."

"So I'm guessing it's not a tag team battle," Pearl said.

"No, and that means we may get a rematch," Jaden said. "The fair is about fifteen minutes by cab and we should try to be there by about 9:30, so that gives us about forty-five minutes tomorrow morning for getting ready and breakfast."

"Okay," Pearl said. "Guess that means we have the rest of tonight to plan our decks." Jaden glanced at the time. It was already late into the evening at 8:17 p.m., but Pearl had a point. They should spend at least two or so hours planning their decks and maybe Jaden could show Pearl a few more tricks she could do with her powers.

Banner retreated to the inside of his cat again as they began to sort through their cards and create the best possible deck and side decks for the tournament. Jaden and Pearl sat on their own beds with their backs to each other so that the other's deck was a mystery in case they were to face off at any point in the tournament. Their cards were all spread out on the bed in front of them as they silently chose their cards. Sometimes they'd speak quietly to themselves or the spirits of their cards while making their decisions, but other than that, the only noise was the sound of shifting around on the beds, planning of strategies and decks.

Before they knew what had happened, over two hours had passed, making it quarter to eleven. Without a word, both of them decided that an early bed time would make for a day of full energy the next day. So the two of them took turns using the bathroom as a change room to change into their pajamas and then they both slipped into bed and turned out the lights. However, sleep didn't come for a while afterwards. Jaden lay awake thinking about the tournament tomorrow.

_"You're not worried, are you?"_ Yubel asked.

_"Why do you ask?"_ Jaden asked back.

_"Because you and I both know that skill comes with experience,"_ Yubel said. _"This tournament is the perfect opportunity for Pearl to practice."_

_"I just don't want her to be concerned,"_ Jaden said. _"If she's focused on the possibility that she could lose control, it's more likely that she will. She needs to learn to put her fears aside and do the job instead of worrying about the how."_

_ "And do you think that you can teach her that?"_ Yubel asked.

_"I'm not sure I understand the question,"_ Jaden said.

_"I'm asking you if you think it's something better to be taught or learned,"_ Yubel said. _"You can't teach her everything; she needs to learn some things on her own in her own way. This is one of them. She'll be fine once she learns the pace of the duels and that being focused on controlling her powers conflicts with her concentration on the duel. I don't think it'll take long to learn that."_ Jaden smiled slightly knowing she was right.

_"I guess you're right,"_ he said, cheekily.

_"I am right,"_ Yubel said. _"Now, get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow."_ Jaden didn't argue with her and soon fell into a heavy sleep, dreaming of winning the tournament the next day.

Pearl on the other hand fell into a light sleep where she was met by the spirit of Gem-Knight Garnet. Pearl was less confident in her abilities than Yubel and confessed this to Garnet.

"How do I know that I can do this?" she asked.

"I believe in you, milady," Garnet said. Pearl didn't respond, so Garnet placed both hands on her shoulders and looked into her face. "We all believe in you," he specified.

"That's not the problem," Pearl said. "I don't believe in me."

"Then you've already lost," Garnet said, standing up straight again. "If you don't have faith in yourself, no one else will and you've already surrendered the fight. You've got to keep trying; we're all here for you." Pearl sighed.

"Thanks for the pep talk," she said.

"We won't let you do this on your own," Garnet said. "Sleep well, mistress." With that, Pearl faded into a deep, dreamless sleep, still wondering, still hoping that she could do what she needed to in order to win.

Jaden woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. Drowsily, he rolled over and picked it up off the bedside table.

"Hello," he said, sleepily.

"This is your 8:00 wake up call," said a woman on the phone. Jaden forced himself to sit up and saw Pearl watching him, clearly awake. Pharaoh meowed in annoyance at the foot of Jaden's bed.

"Thanks," Jaden said, before hanging up. He then turned to look at Pearl. "Sleep well?" he asked.

"For the most part," Pearl said, propping herself up on her arm. "What about you?"

"I slept great, I just wish I had more time to sleep," Jaden said. "Anyway, we should get ready."

"I call the bathroom first," Pearl said.

"Go right ahead," Jaden agreed. Pearl was out in ten minutes after a quick shower, so Jaden also was able to shower and change before the two of them headed out for a breakfast of fruit, cereal and yogurt. Jaden had decided to bring Pharaoh along in his bag, just so that the maids didn't have to deal with a thirty pound cat. So in a pre-called cab, the two of them headed for the fairgrounds. By the time they made it there, it was quarter to ten, meaning they had just fifteen minutes to check in and get ready for their first match. The fairgrounds certainly were large. Both Pearl and Jaden grabbed a map so they could get to the proper locations for their duels.

"Looks like everyone is supposed to head to the duel arena for the introduction and pairing," Jaden said, looking at the map.

"Center of the fair and we have to be there in five minutes," Pearl said.

"We'd better run then," Jaden said. "Let's go!"

"Let's go, cousin," Pearl agreed. The two of them hurried to the arena and made it there just before the introduction began. A man stood on the center duel ring dressed in a blue suit with a darker tie and white leather shoes.

"Welcome one and all to the Casper City Annual Duel Fair!" he said. "I'm your host, Jarvis Phool." Jaden and Pearl had a good laugh at that. "Now, to begin, we've got a good harvest of promising duellists this year, all competing for the jackpot of twenty-five thousand big ones! Now, the preliminary matches will begin today, followed by the secondary rounds tomorrow and the finales the next day. Only those who pass each of these have a chance of reaching the finals. Now, for the pairing, please turn your eyes to the screen above." Everyone looked up at the large screens and watched as forty-eight faces were shuffled. Finally, they stopped and everyone saw who they would be facing. Pearl and Jaden sighed in relief; they wouldn't be facing each other in the first round. Everyone watched as the paired faces were moved to different locations on a map.

"Now then, duellists," Mr. Phool said. "Head to your designated locations. The duels begin in half an hour!" Duellists all around them began to head to the different locations they had been assigned. Jaden and Pearl stood a moment longer gazing at the screen.

"Looks like I'm in the water park first," Jaden said.

"Lucky you," Pearl said. "Looks like they've set me up on the Dragon Fire Rollercoaster."

"That should be fun!" Jaden said. "And remember, you control your powers, not the other way around. You'll do fine."

"Thanks," Pearl said. With that she turned and headed off in the direction of her duel. Jaden watched her go and prayed silently that she wouldn't be too nervous. If she was, then it was more likely that she'd lose control.

_"Believe in her,"_ Yubel interrupted. _"Just like you believed in me. Is that so hard to do?"_

_ "No, I guess not,"_ Jaden said. _"But even then the fear remains."_ He started to walk towards the water park.

_"The fear may be there, but it should never interfere with the trust,"_ Yubel said. _"You taught me that."_

_ "You're right,"_ Jaden said. _"Let's focus on our duel and worry about Pearl later."_ With that he ran towards his first opponent.

All around the fair, duellists were being prepared for their duels. For Pear's duel on the rollercoaster, a platform was set up with bars and ropes to keep them from falling off. So they were properly strapped in and waiting for the signal to begin. Jaden was escorted to a small area in the middle of a water rollercoaster where he faced his opponent. The other locations were a haunted house, the house of mirrors, a Farris wheel, an old west town, the planetarium, and a pirate ship and everywhere else you could think of. Suddenly, over the speakers came Mr. Phool's voice.

_"Alright Duellists, you may commence with your duel!"_ he said. The rollercoaster took off, the Farris wheel started and all throughout the theme park, one voice echoed in one word.

"Duel!"

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Alright, that's the end of this chapter. You'll be able to see at least pieces of Jaden's and Pearl's duels, I'm not sure yet if I'll show you the full thing. If you would like the full thing, message me and let me know. If you don't care and just want me to stop talking and keep writing so you can read more, tell me. Either one works. Please wait for then next chapter while I get my game on!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys, it's me again...finally. I know it's taken me a while to get this new chapter up, but here it is so please enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 6:

Duelling Day of Disarray

The Casper City Annual Duel Fair was underway. All around the park, duellists began to fall in defeat while others hurried to their next location. Jaden was having a great time against his first opponent. He was behind but had the perfect combo to defeat his opponent. This guy duelled with a Koa'ki Meiru deck and currently had two monsters on the field. The first one was Koa'ki Meiru Wall: **ATK – 1900, DEF – 1200** in defense mode and Koa'ki Meiru Crusader:** ATK – 1900, DEF – 1300** in attack mode while his life points were at twenty-three hundred. Jaden had Sparkman on his field in defense mode, Emergency Provisions and Dummy Marker face down on his field. In his hand he had Burstinatrix, and Avian. His life points were down to six hundred and it was his turn.

_"If I had polymerization, I could fuse Burstinatrix and Avian to bring out Flame Wingman. However, it doesn't matter which monster I destroy with him, he'd still have life points left, not to mention that Koa'ki Meiru Wall has one nasty effect of cancelling the activation of a spell card by being tributed. There's only one thing to do,"_ Jaden decided.

"I draw!" he said. He glanced at the card and grinned. "Victory is mine. First I'll activate Emergency Provisions. By sending one face down card to the graveyard, I gain back one thousand life points."

"I won't let you," said his opponent. "I activate the effect of Koa'ki Meiru Wall. By sending it to the graveyard, I can negate the activation and destroy your spell card." Emergency Provisions dissolved into light and Jaden grinned.

"I had hoped you'd do that," he said.

"Why?" asked the boy, slightly confused. "You can't regain life points now so what was the point of that?"

"My goal wasn't to gain life points, it was to get rid of that monster so I could activate this," Jaden said. He pulled a card from his hand and slid it into a spell and trap card zone. "It's called Double Fusion. Now I can fuse twice this turn. Of course, it cost me some life points but it'll be worth it." Jaden lost five hundred life points before he continued.

"First I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to form Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Next, I'll fuse Wingman with Sparkman to form the Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!" Jaden said. Shining Flare Wingman was absolutely glowing on the field. **ATK – 2500, DEF – 2100.** "Now for the attack," Jaden continued. "Shining Flare Wingman, attack Koa'ki Meiru Crusader! Shining Flare Shoot!" Crusader was easily destroyed and Jaden's opponent took six hundred points of damage.

"I've still got life points," the boy protested.

"Not after Wingman's effect," Jaden said. "He deals damage equal to the attack points of the monster destroyed." The boy's life points deteriorated and he slumped to the ground. Jaden walked up and gave him his traditional end of duel salute.

"That's game," Jaden said.

Meanwhile, Pearl was about to lose her first duel. Not only was it difficult trying to control her abilities, but she also had to focus on staying upright and duelling all at the same time. With her attention split, she had fallen behind in the duel. Her opponent, a boy named Drake used a dragon deck, to which Pearl saw some irony. After all, there are a lot of medieval stories about knights slaying dragons. That's beside the point, though.

Somehow, Pearl had managed to destroy all the monsters on Drake's field, leaving his field almost empty except for one facedown card that he'd had from the beginning of the duel. However, after activating Card of Sanctity last turn, he had six cards in his hand and who knew what kind of combinations could come out of it. Currently, his life points were at thirty-seven hundred.

Pearl on the other hand, had three monsters on her field; the first was Gem-Turtle Diopside in defense mode: **DEF – 2000.** The second was Gem-Knight Alexandrite, a glowing white armoured knight with shards of alexandrite embedded within his armour in attack mode: **ATK – 1800.** The last one was Gem-Knight Emerald, a knight with light green armour with emerald gems embedded in it, much like Alexandrite's and a long green ponytail that stuck out of his cat like helmet in defense mode: **DEF – 800.** Alexandrite had just barely been able to destroy Drake's other dragon and dealt him a full two hundred points of damage, bringing her to the end of her turn. However, she only had thirty-two hundred life points left.

"I'll set these two cards and end my turn," Pearl said, almost falling over. Then she looked at her hand and cursed herself silently. _"I put the wrong ones face down!" _she realized. _"Hopefully the ones that I did will at least fool him."_

"My turn, I draw," Drake said. A grin crossed his face and Pearl knew he had something big. She could feel the joy of his nature change into the confidence that winning was in the bag. "I'll activate the spell card Polymerization and fuse the five dragons I have in my hand," Drake said.

"Five dragons?!" Pearl exclaimed. "There's only one monster that powerful."

"That's right," Drake said. "I fusion summon the magnificent Five-Headed Dragon!" The beast was so huge that the rollercoaster was like a grape vine to this beast. **Five-Headed Dragon: ATK – 5000, DEF – 5000.** "Five-Headed Dragon, attack Alexandrite!" Drake ordered. The oversized dragon reeled back all five of its heads and let out a large burst of energy that slammed through Alexandrite and hit Pearl with thirty-two hundred points of damage, bringing her down to one hundred points.

"Alexandrite!" Pearl shouted as the blast hit her and she lost her balance. She fell over the railing and held on to the strap that kept her from falling too far.

"Pearl, are you alright?" Drake called. He couldn't get to her because of the strap but he prayed that she'd be able to pull herself up. Suddenly, Gem-Knight Emerald turned and hurried to the edge.

"Milady!" he called.

"Emerald, help me!" Pearl said. Emerald grabbed the strap and carefully pulled her back over the bar. Drake stood at the other end of the platform in awe. Pearl gasped for breath as her heart rate began to slow down again.

"Milady, are you alright?" Emerald asked.

"I am now," she said shakily. "Thank you."

"I am here to serve you, mistress," Emerald said before returning to his defensive position.

"Are you…psychic?" Drake asked.

"Yes…unfortunately I am," Pearl said.

"Unfortunately?" Drake questioned. "Most people would literally give their souls to be able to converse with and make their monsters come to life. I'm seriously jealous."

_"You wouldn't be if you knew how uncontrollable my power can be,"_ Pearl thought.

"Anyway, it's your turn now," Drake said.

"I draw," Pearl said. She glanced at Pot of Greed and then back at Five-Headed Dragon. _"I'll need a miracle to defeat him,"_ she thought, but she activated Pot of Greed anyway and drew two more cards. She was almost surprised to see Garnet come to her hand.

_"There is a way to slay th_is_ beast, milady,"_ Garnet said to her. _"The trick is in the cards."_ Pearl had to stop and think for a moment. She now had three monsters in her hand and three spells, on her field; she had two defense position monsters and two traps that she couldn't use for defense. Suddenly she remembered one of the traps on her field. Combined with the spells in her hand, she could win.

"I activate a trap card," Pearl said. "It's called Pyroxene Fusion. This card can be used as a fusion card for Gem-Knights. So from my hand, I send Gem-Armadillo and Gem-Knight Garnet to the graveyard to fusion summon Gem-Knight Zirconia!" The big fisted silver armoured gem-knight made his appearance in attack mode. **ATK – 2900, DEF – 2500.**

"He can't even touch my dragon," Drake said. "Besides, Five-Headed Dragon can only be destroyed by a monster with a light attribute."

"Light attribute?" Pearl said. "Zirconia is an earth attribute. However, I activate my second facedown card: DNA Transplant. This one changes all monsters on the field to whatever attribute I declare and I say light!"

"It doesn't matter, because your monster is still weaker," Drake pointed out.

"Is that so?" Pearl asked. Drake started and Pearl took a deep breath. _"If I want to win, I've got to stop focusing on staying in control. I have to put my all into every card I draw, into every combo and fight with everything I've got."_

"I activate three spell cards!" Pearl said. "The first one is Burden of the Mighty. This card lowers your monster's attack point by two hundred times its level. That means it loses twenty-four hundred attack points!" **Five-Headed Dragon:** **ATK – 2600.**

"The second one is Banner of Courage and this raises all of my monster's attack by two hundred," Pearl continued. **Gem-Turtle: ATK – 200. Gem-Knight Emerald: ATK – 2000. Gem-Knight Zirconia: ATK – 3100.**

"Now, I'll switch Emerald into attack mode and activate the equip spell, United We Stand. This raises Zirconia's attack by eight hundred for each monster that I control, giving Zirconia a twenty-four hundred point power up!" Pearl said. **Zirconia: ATK – 5500.**

"Oh boy," Drake said.

"Now, Zirconia, attack the Five-Headed Dragon! Go Zirconia Double Pound!" Pearl said. Zirconia attacked and destroyed the dragon and Drake took twenty-nine hundred points of damage, bringing him down to eight hundred.

"I've got another attack," Pearl said. "Emerald, attack him directly. Emerald Sword Strike!" Emerald attacked and Drake fell to the ground as his life points deteriorated.

"I guess you got me," Drake said with a grin. "Those are some cool monsters you got there."

"They're my knights," Pearl said as the rollercoaster stopped. She looked at her deck and smiled. "Good Knights."

Duels continued throughout the day and Pearl and Jaden rose through the ranks quickly and fiercely. Pearl slowly began to gain confidence in her duelling, trusting in her own strength to keep herself in control. Jaden made new friends and laughed as he had the best time in a long while.

Jaden faced the girl known as Elizabeth the Queen. She used a deck archetype called Allure Queen and was really good. She currently had Allure Queen Lv. 7 and Queen's Bodyguard in attack mode, while Defender, the Magical Knight was in defense mode on her field. Her life points were at six hundred.

Thanks to Allure Queen's effect of stealing monsters as equip spells, Jaden didn't have any monsters on his field. Sparkman had been stolen two turns ago and the others didn't last long either. Not only that, but by destroying the equipped monster, Allure Queen couldn't be destroyed in that battle, but then Queen's Bodyguard automatically stepped in to protect their queen, and Defender could remove one spell counter to prevent a Spellcaster type monster from being destroyed. Currently, Defender didn't have any spell counters and it was Jaden's turn.

"I draw!" Jaden said. He glanced at the card and the cards in his hand and grinned. "I summon Burstinatrix in attack mode!" **Burstinatrix: ATK – 1200, DEF – 800. **

"She won't do you any good," Elizabeth said. "She's far too weak."

"She doesn't need to be strong, your highness," Jaden said with a grin. "I activate a spell card called Burst Return. This returns all elemental heroes to my hand. Sparkman, come on home." Sparkman left Allure Queen and returned to Jaden's hand.

"You can't!" Elizabeth said.

"Sure I can, Liz," Jaden said. "And I'm not done."

"For goodness sakes, don't call me Liz!" Elizabeth demanded.

"I activate Burst Impact!" Jaden said, ignoring Elizabeth's demands. "This destroys every monster on the field except for Burstinatrix. And you take three hundred points of damage for every monster destroyed." Elizabeth gasped as her monsters were destroyed and she lost the duel.

"That's Game and a good one too," Jaden said. "You've gotta duel me again sometime, Lizzy."

"It's…oh, never mind," Elizabeth said. Jaden smiled and looked up at the standings. Currently, one of the TV screens was showing a duel between Pearl and some guy who was older than her.

_"Looks like she's doing fine,"_ Yubel said.

_"I'm glad,"_ Jaden replied. _"She seems happy with herself and in complete control. If this keeps up, she should be able to last until the end. Keep fighting, Precious Pearl."_

Pearl grinned at her opponent and then gazed at the field. She was about to win and was enjoying herself. The guy looked absolutely enraged.

"I can't lose!" he shouted. "I won't lose to a little girl!"

"Well then, you'll have to fight against this little girl's indestructible spirit. Time to say good knight," Pearl said.

"But it's still the middle of the day," the man said.

"No I mean say, 'Good knight,'" Pearl explained. "Gem-Knight Crystal, show him what I mean. Attack with Adamant Burst!" Crystal moved in to attack and the guy took a half step back.

"Good knight, be nice," he said. Crystal attacked and the guy fell to the ground, defeated. Pearl cheered.

"That's my knight! Good job," Pearl said.

_"Always for you, milady,"_ Crystal said before disappeared.

_ "That's it folks!"_ Mr. Phool said over the park's speaker system. _"The first day of the Duel Fair is over and look at who's still in it. We've got a great standing for tomorrow's event so be here bright and early to begin the semi-finals. This is your host, Mayor Phool, saying good day and see you tomorrow!"_

Pearl found Jaden in the food court area with Pharaoh chowing down on a burger and fries. She was so excited that she hurried over as fast as she could. Jaden spotted her as she ran and stood up to greet her, or rather almost get tackled by her hug.

"I made it!" she said. "I made it to the semi-finals!"

"Good for you, cousin," Jaden said. "Come on, I got you a burger."

"What time is it anyway?" Pearl asked, taking the seat across from him. That was when her stomach growled loudly.

"Time for food," Jaden said, smiling. Pearl blushed with embarrassment and hid behind the burger Jaden had bought for her. After a moment of eating, Jaden decided to ask.

"So, no accidents?" he asked. Pearl grinned slightly.

"No, none that were caused by me at least," she said. "I almost fell off the rollercoaster, though. Luckily, I was saved by Emerald."

"How'd your opponent react to that?" Jaden asked.

"He told me that most people would literally give their soul to have powers like mine," Pearl said.

"He's right," Jaden said. "I've met some of them. Of course, they didn't know what they were getting themselves into and didn't last long, I regret to say. Some people just don't understand that you need to be responsible with the power they already have before they go for more." Pearl noticed that there was a different look in Jaden's eyes, one that she had seen before…while looking in the mirror. It was gone a moment later and his bright smile returned.

"Anyway, no sense in dwelling on it," Jaden said. "Hey, are you interested in having a contest?"

"What kind of contest?" Pearl asked, forgetting what she had seen.

"Let's see who can finish their meal first," Jaden said.

"Drink included?" Pearl asked, with a competitive gleam in her eye.

"You bet," Jaden said.

"Alright," Pearl agreed. "Let's see how fast boys really can eat."

"Oh, it's on now," Jaden said. "We'll go when Pharaoh meows, alright?" Pearl agreed and they both looked at Pharaoh, waiting for him to tell them to go. They didn't have to wait long, because Pharaoh let out a meow just barely a few seconds later and the two of them started crazily eating their food. They got several stares and odd looks from passers-by but neither of them paid any mind to them. It was good to relax with an eating contest. While it's no surprise that Jaden was a fast eater, Pearl was almost just as fast and their contest ended in a tie and some slightly upset stomachs. After several deep breaths the two of them started laughing at their frivolous competition.

"You're good," Jaden complimented. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Justin and I always had competitions at lunch to see who could finish first," Pearl explained. "I always won."

"I can see why," Jaden said. "Well, we're at a fair with full access passes, what do you say we hit some rides while we still have a chance?"

"I'm all for it!" Pearl said.

"Great, I'll race you to the Go Carts!" Jaden said, grabbing his bag.

"You're on!" Pearl said. The two of them ran off in the direction of their first chosen attraction with an annoyed tabby cat lagging behind. They had so much fun together on the Go Carts, Bumper Cars, Ferris Wheel, Roller Coaster, Merry-Go-Around and so much more. It was almost time for the park to close when the two of them were racing towards the exit to catch their cab back to the hotel. Neither of them noticed a dark shape lurking in the shadows behind them. He wore a cloak with a hood that he had pulled up to shadow most of his face and a scarf around his mouth and neck area. His breathing was heavy and almost sounded like it was coming out of an air vent. He watched the two teens running and smiling and almost growled.

"I've found you," he said to himself. "Finally, after all this time of searching, I've found you. But who is this girl with you? What sort of trick did you play on this girl to make her travel with you…unless she doesn't know the truth." The man paused to contemplate this for a moment. "I must warn her before she becomes your next victim….Haou." With this last decision made, the man lifted his single eye to the Pearl's smiling face and silently prayed that he wouldn't be too late before retreating into the shadows and disappearing without a trace.

Jaden paused just before getting into the cab and looked around. He was sure he sensed something other worldly a moment ago, but it was gone, almost like it wasn't existent anymore. Pearl noticed Jaden's hesitation to get into the cab and leaned over to see what was wrong.

"Jaden, you alright?" she asked.

"Ya, I'm fine," Jaden said. "Just fine." Deciding not to dwell any longer, the slifer red boy slid into the seat beside Pearl as the driver drove them back to the hotel.

* * *

So, did you guys like it? Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long to post up. Anyway, be patient until it is up and...reread the whole story, send me messages, suggestions, anything that can help me out would be welcome...good and bad. See you later.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, I'm posting the next chapter sooner than expected. It's shorter, but it might answer a few more of your questions and if it doesn't...you'll just have to keep waiting, cause I'm not giving anything away...at least not for free. Anyway, enjoy. :)

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Chapter 7:

Semi-Finals

Pearl's dreams were restless. She tossed and turned, trying to escape, but she was tied down with something and could barely move. She watched fearfully as blank faces moved around her. Their talk was indistinctive, yet somehow she knew that she had to get away. One of the men turned something on that made a terrible ringing noise. Pearl screamed and suddenly found herself sitting up in the hotel room she shared with Jaden and the phone ringing. Jaden was closest and rolled over to grab it. Pearl checked the time. 8:00 a.m., almost time for them to leave for the fair again. Pearl took a deep breath and attempted to slow her heart rate as Jaden thanked the lady on the phone and hung up.

"Good morning," he said to Pearl.

"Morning," Pearl attempted. Her voice sounded calm to her, despite the fact that she was trembling. Hopefully Jaden wouldn't notice.

"So, do you want first dibs on the shower?" Jaden asked, seemingly unaware.

"Ya, ya I would," Pearl said. So she did and tried to figure out how to deal with her nightmare beneath the hot water. She knew exactly what it was and she also knew that if she didn't calm down, not only would she not be able to focus on her duelling, but she also ran the possibility of losing control. So as she stood in the shower, she began to practice the breathing exercises that Jaden had taught her.

Meanwhile, Jaden sat on his bed with Pharaoh and his deck, arranging cards for the upcoming day. As he did, Professor Banner and Yubel appeared beside him. Jaden ignored their presence for a minute as he finished sorting his cards, but finally they became an undeniable distraction.

"What's going on?" Jaden asked, keeping his voice low so Pearl wouldn't hear.

"Come on Jaden, even you're not that dumb," Banner said.

"Glad you have faith in me, professor," Jaden said.

"You know what I mean, Jaden," Banner said.

_"Pearl is clearly struggling with nightmares,"_ Yubel said. _"Yet here you are not trying to console her or figure out what's wrong."_

"It's pointless to ask questions you already know the answer to," Jaden said. "It took a while, but she's most likely dreaming about her time in the lab. I don't know what they did to her, but it didn't leave just physical scars."

"It's to be expected," Banner said. "She is still so young and to go through a trauma like that at this age can affect the rest of her life."

_"You're not going to ask her about it?"_ Yubel questioned. _"She needs your help, you told me yourself."_

"She does," Jaden agreed. "However, it's far too soon to be talking about the lab right now. I know what trauma can do to a person. I went through that. I locked myself in my room in the dark for almost two months after we got back, trying to figure out exactly what happened. That's what she's doing now; trying to come to grips with the various tests she went through. Thing is, if you try and talk to her before she's ready to answer, who knows what kind of effect it could have on her. She needs to learn to accept what happened before I talk to her."

_"But she needs your help now. She obviously wants it since she's not locking herself up in the dark like you did,"_ Yubel said.

"True, but that's because, as scared as she is with her abilities, she's more afraid of being alone," Jaden said. "She wants to be around people she can trust, people who understand her and after being deprived of that for years, who can blame her. As much as she's afraid of hurting someone she cares about, she's more afraid of being left alone."

"Jaden, you can't be there for her always," Banner said. "She'll need to learn to conquer her fears in the end."

"I did, didn't I?" Jaden asked. Yubel and Banner shared a look. They both knew all too well that, while Jaden could easily put on a brave or goofy façade, he still had his regrets and his fears and also had nightmares on occasion. Still, Jaden learned to cope with them and live with them, despite his desire to redeem himself.

"Don't worry," Jaden said. "When she's ready to open up, she will. I'm not going to push her into something that she's not ready for." Yubel and Banner disappeared then as Pearl exited the bathroom, seemingly refreshed and smiling.

"You're turn, Jay," Pearl said. Jaden grinned at his nickname. Pearl noticed and thought she might've said something wrong. "I'm sorry, do you not like to be called by a nickname?" she asked.

"No, no, it's just that, my friends from Duel Academy always called me that," Jaden explained. "I was just lost in memory for a moment."

"When did you last see them?" Pearl asked, sitting on her bed.

"About a year and a half ago," Jaden admitted. "I've been travelling a lot so visits are a no go."

"You must miss them," Pearl said.

"All the time," Jaden agreed. "But I know I'll see them again sometime soon, when I'm not busy fixing problems or helping people."

"How many people do you help?" Pearl asked, curious.

"No clue, probably averages out to about fifteen a month," Jaden said. Pearl was surprised as Jaden looked thoughtful. "You know, I should get paid for this job!" Pearl chuckled.

"Who on earth would pay a runner like you?" she asked. "For goodness sakes, you blew up a military base!"

"Wasn't the first one," Jaden said. "I could be…a secret agent! Ya, that's totally a job I could do!"

"Except for the secret part. You're way too loud," Pearl said.

"Am not, I got you out of a secret lab," Jaden said.

"You tripped the alarm as we were getting out!" Pearl protested. "Can you even hack a computer? Or disable an alarm system? Maybe turn off all of the security cameras?"

"Sure, all you have to do is find the off button, right?" Jaden asked. Pearl face-palmed herself and started laughing.

"Just take your shower Jaden," Pearl said.

"Hey, that's Yuki," Jaden said, in the bathroom doorway. "Jaden Yuki." Pearl chuckled as she took out her deck and Jaden closed the door. Pharaoh hopped up on her bed and meowed at Pearl. Pearl grinned at the large tabby.

"I don't know how you do it, Pharaoh," she said. "That boy is such a simple minded person. It's almost unbearable."

"I heard that," Jaden called from the bathroom. Pearl chuckled as she began to arrange her deck for the day.

One quick breakfast and a short cab ride later, Pearl and Jaden found themselves back at the Annual Casper Fun Fair Grounds. By the looks of it, several new attractions had been brought in, but the popular ones remained, naturally. This time Jaden and Pearl weren't in a race against time to make it to the duel ring in the center of the park for their next pairing. Just like the day before, Jarvis Phool stood on the main platform with his cheesy game show host smile wearing a purple suit with a black tie and black leather shoes. At exactly ten o'clock, he addressed the pack of duellists before him…or maybe a flock…or a herd.

"Welcome back to the semi-finals," Mr. Phool said. "By the end of today, only six of you will be left for the finals tomorrow. Duellists, turn your heads toward the screen and watch as your pairs are revealed thanks to our computer's randomization program." Everyone watched in anticipation as their pairs were revealed as well as their locations. "Good luck to you all," Mr. Phool said.

"Sweet, I'm in the miniature village," Jaden said.

"Lucky, I get to start in Ye Olde Town," Pearl said.

"That should be fun," Jaden said. "Are you ready?"

"You bet," Pearl said. "See you in the finals."

"Good luck to us both, cousin," Jaden said. Pearl waved as the two of them separated and headed to their starting arenas. At exactly ten forty-five, everyone was facing their opponent ready to duel.

_"All duellists to starting positions ready?"_ Mr. Phool asked over the P.A. _"On your mark, get set, duel."_ And just like that the duels began.

It should come as no surprise that Jaden and Pearl began excelling through the ranks of the tournament. Many spectators watched as these two supposed cousins won duel after duel. Many others were excelling too, and while the journey was ended for some, more moved on, leaving only the strongest duellists to continue. The regular spectators weren't the only ones keeping close watch on the duels. Another shadow moved, silent and unseen by the many spectators, who were too focused on the duels to pay any attention. This shadow was only interested in two duellists – namely Jaden and Pearl. The man made sure to take careful notes on each one: how they duelled, their cards, strategies, personality and so on. What intrigued him most was not Jaden, but the girl he travelled with. She didn't seem like much of a threat, but there was certainly something different about her.

_"Perhaps a closer look would help,"_ he thought. _"She must be warned anyway."_ This man nodded to himself and prepared to head off to Pearl's next duel location and wait for the perfect opportunity to approach and ask. Luckily for him, the location of her next duel would give him a much needed advantage.

Pearl looked around at all the reflections within the Hall of Mirrors, a popular attraction due to its maze like layout making it difficult to maneuver unless you knew your way around. Pearl was in her final turn against her opponent and about to win.

"Alright Seraphinite," Pearl said, indicating her fusion monster. "Take out his Alien Warrior and end this!" Seraphinite complied and easily took out the opponent's monster to win the duel. "Good knight," Pearl said to her opponent. It was something she had begun saying at the end of her duels and she thought it worked nicely as a pun.

"Guess I lost," her opponent said. "Good work."

"You too," Pearl said. "Keep practicing boy."

"See you," the boy said. With that he left down a marked path that led the duellists inside. Pearl waited for her next location to be given to her as she had learned to do and found out that she was going to be on the train zoo tour. Before she could exit the Hall of Mirrors – or Maze of Mirrors if you prefer – she noticed a shadow move and felt something that was different about the room.

"Who's there?" Pearl asked, turning around. The shadow moved again and Pearl followed it, activating her duel disk as she did.

"Show yourself!" she demanded. "I'm warning you."

"Then we both have a similar mission, I see," the man's voice said, seeming to echo through the maze, cold and metallic. He stopped moving, but all Pearl could find were reflections of a cloaked man with a scarf around his lower jaw.

"Who are you?" Pearl demanded, taking a defensive stance.

"One who lived through the most devastating war of my world and lived," the man said. "I am a survivor who has chosen to protect the others who survived." Pearl turned from mirror to mirror, trying to figure out where this man's voice was coming from.

"Why are you here?" Pearl asked.

"I am here to warn you, nothing more," the man said.

"Warn me of what?" Pearl asked. "Are you helping Oberon?"

"Oberon?" the man said confused. Pearl could tell from his voice that his confusion was genuine. "I don't know who that is."

"Then why are you here?!" Pearl demanded. She spun around and found herself face to face with the man and she was startled. Beyond the shadow of his hood, Pearl could only find the glint of one eye on the right side.

"As I said, I am here merely to warn you that the boy you are travelling with is not who he appears to be," he said.

"What do you mean? Jaden has helped me regain my freedom," Pearl said. "How can I not trust him when Jaden's done nothing but help me?"

"Jaden?" the man asked. "Is that the name he goes by?" Then he chuckled, a hollow sound that Pearl feared more than a maniacal laugh and caused her to try and back slowly away from the man. However, this man followed at the same pace.

"In my world he is known by a different name," he said as he stepped forward and Pearl stepped back. "In my world he is known as Haou, the most ruthless warlord to have ever ruled any dimension."

"That's impossible," Pearl said.

"You didn't see the war," the man said. Both of them began to move faster. "You didn't live through the pain. You didn't watch as your family was slaughtered by a king who wanted nothing more than power."

"No," Pearl said.

"You don't have to live with the scars that almost killed you. The same scars that make every day of your life miserable. Painful and miserable scars…memories. You don't have to live with that!" the man shouted. Pearl drew a card and was relieved to see Garnet. However, as she went to place the card on her duel disk, she tripped. The card fell from her hand and she fumbled to grab it and place it on her duel disk.

"Garnet!" she called as her monster appeared in front of her and shot a stream of fire at the mystery man. The cloaked man leapt out of the way and stood back to observe this girl.

"Milady, are you alright?" Garnet asked, helping Pearl up.

"I'm fine, Garnet," Pearl said. The man chuckled.

"So this is it," he said. "This is why you seem different from the others around. You can control the duel monsters as well."

"As well?" Pearl questioned. "What does that mean?"

"I can see why Haou chose you to travel with him," the man continued. With that he reached beneath his cloak, which caused Garnet to tense up, and pulled out a card. Pearl placed a hand on Garnet's shoulder and gazed at the business like card the man held out to her.

"Take this with you, my dear," he said. Pearl carefully stepped forward with Garnet directly behind her and took the card from him. "I have warned you like I intended. If you ever need me, use that card to contact me." Pearl was surprised at the sudden change in his voice. He had sounded so threatening before, but now he sounded gentle, almost caring.

"Why?" Pearl asked. "Why warn me about my friend? Why give me this? Why are you really here?"

"I am here to make sure that Haou does not return," the man said as he began to walk away. "Enough people have suffered his wrath. I don't want to see another one become his prey." With this last sentence he vanished as though he were a specter and was never truly there. Pearl stood there for what seemed like a long time, staring at the card and contemplating his words.

"Milady," Garnet interrupted. "What will we do?"

"I don't know Garnet," Pearl admitted. "That man seemed honest enough, but Jaden has done nothing to hurt us."

"But milady, surely you sense that he is not a normal human," Garnet said.

"You don't need to tell me," Pearl said, remembering the night she'd first met him and saw his eyes change color. "Those eyes were not his eyes."

"So then who's eyes were they?" Garnet asked.

"I don't know yet," Pearl said. She glanced at the card before placing it in her pocket. _"I'll keep it for now. It may prove useful, but I'm not ready to accuse Jaden of anything just yet,"_ Pearl decided. She then replaced Garnet's card in her deck and headed off to her next duel, for the first time since meet Jaden, she was unsure what to believe.

* * *

So, how'd you like it. Was it good? Bad? Unexpected? Suspenseful? Boring? All of the above? Message me and let me know. Wait for the next chapter when we go into duels with more details! Til then, eat a bagel with cream cheese and think about your place in the universe.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm back. This chapter will feature a duel...well technically two, but I've split them into two parts so we kind of bounce around a little bit. Bare with it and enjoy.

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Chapter 8:

Of Light and Dark

_"Welcome back, duellists to the final duel of the day,"_ Mr. Phool announced over the speakers. _"We started out with forty-eight duellists and now we are down to sixteen. Please take your positions for you last duel."_

These words brought Pearl back from her daze as she headed to the area in the zoo where they had the train tours. It was a small train with no roof and box cars that could only fit two people. It would be a slow ride, so the risk of falling off was lessened from the rollercoaster idea, but they still had harnesses ready as a precaution. Pearl stared at these preparations for a long time before someone walked up beside her.

"It's amazing the lengths they'll go to just to attract a crowd," the girl said.

"Not really," Pearl said. "People want to be noticed and they'll quite often do anything to get it." The girl beside her smiled.

"I'm Dara," she said, holding out a hand.

"Pearl," Pearl greeted, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Dara said. "I hope this will be one exciting duel."

"Oh, it will be," Pearl said.

"Alright, we're ready for you," one of the maintenance men called. The two girls headed to their separate cars to get themselves strapped in.

Meanwhile, Jaden had made it to the location of his last duel of the day; the Haunted House. He was excited and didn't wait for his signal to enter, but just plunged inside ready for his next battle. There, standing across what appeared to be a chasm was another boy with a duel disk.

"Hey bro, you ready to duel?" Jaden called.

"Oh, so you must be my opponent," the boy said. "My name's Maurice. What's yours?"

"Jaden," Jaden said. "This is going to be a sweet duel!"

"Agreed," Maurice said.

_"Duellists, take your positions,"_ Mr. Phool said. Duel disks were activated and rides started as everyone waited for their signal to start. _"Ready…set…duel!"_ came the call.

"Let's duel!" everyone said.

"Get your game on, Maurice," Jaden said. "I'll go first. Draw!" Jaden took a moment to gaze at his hand. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode." **Sparkman – ATK: 1600.** "I'll also set one card and end my turn. Now, show me what you've got," Jaden challenged.

"Oh, so you're a hero fan, are you?" Maurice asked.

"Ya, heroes are so cool," Jaden said.

"I'm afraid that I'm not like that," Maurice said as he drew his card. "I like the villains, so I'll start with Dark Scorpion Gorg the Strong in attack mode!" Jaden was surprised to see the familiar big, dark skinned man with a scar that went down across the right half of his face at an angle. **Gorg the Strong – ATK: 1800.**

"Like him?" Maurice asked.

"I've met the Dark Scorpions before," Jaden admitted. "They're pretty cool monsters, but I'll stick with my heroes."

"Sorry, but your heroes aren't going to stick with you," Maurice said. "Gorg, attack Sparkman!" Gorg charged and brought his giant metal club down causing Sparkman to explode and Jaden took two hundred points of damage.

"Now, due to Gorg's second effect, you have to send the top card in your deck to the graveyard," Maurice said. Jaden obliged and was more than happy to when he saw Necroshade. "Also, during my second Main Phase, I'm going to activate a spell card called Gravekeeper's Servant. As long as this card remains active on the field, you have to send one card from the top of your deck to the graveyard in order to declare an attack," Maurice explained.

"Say what?" Jaden asked.

"You heard me," Maurice said. "I'll set one card and end my turn. You're up, Jaden."

_"Be careful Jaden,"_ Yubel said. _"You realize what kind of strategy he's using, right?"_

_ "Ya, ya, I got it. Unfortunately, I'm just going to have to deal with it until I can get rid of his strategy, which won't be easy I can tell," _Jaden thought.

"I draw," Jaden said. "I summon Clayman in defense mode." **Clayman – DEF: 2000.** "I'll also set another card facedown and end my turn."

"That's all?" Maurice asked. "I watched the recordings of your other duels I this tournament and you did way better than this."

"Someone did his homework," Jaden said.

_"That's more than I can say for you, slacker,"_ Yubel teased.

_"You're not helping, Yubel,"_ Jaden retorted.

"Whatever, it's your funeral," Maurice continued. "I draw and summon Command Knight in attack mode!" **Command Knight – ATK: 1200.** Jaden was slightly surprised to see that Command Knight was a girl. "She's more than just a pretty face," Maurice continued.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaden asked.

"It means that all warrior type monsters I control gain four hundred attack points thanks to her effect and as long as she's not the only monster on my field, she can't be attacked," Maurice explained.

"Oh boy," Jaden said. **Command Knight – ATK: 1600. Gorg the Strong – ATK: 2200.**

"That's not good for you. Gorg, attack Clayman!" Maurice said.

"I activate a trap; Mirror Gate," Jaden said. "Now our monsters switch sides and the battle continues."

"That's not true, because I activate a trap of my own," Maurice said. "It's called Dark Illusions and it activates when you activate an effect that has a dark attribute monster as a target. Your trap is negated and destroyed!"

"Well that's no fun," Jaden said. "Luckily, that's not the only trap I have. This one's called Clay Charge! When Clayman is targeted for an attack, I destroy the attacking monster and you get hit with eight hundred points of damage." Gorg exploded and Maurice's life points took a dive to thirty-two hundred.

"Well, looks like you got me there," Maurice said. "I'll activate Allure of Darkness. With this effect I draw two cards and banish one dark monster from my hand. So I'll choose Dark General Freed and then activate the Warrior Returning Alive to bring back Gorg the Strong to my hand. I'll end with two cards face down."

"This might take longer than I thought," Jaden mussed to himself.

Pearl and Dara stood three cars across from each other on the slow moving train ready to begin their duel. Each one was strapped securely in the brightly colored box cars, respectively.

"The first move is yours, Pearl," Dara said. "Show me what you've got."

"Ask and you shall receive," Pearl said. "I draw. I'll start with Gem-Knight Garnet in attack mode." **Garnet – ATK: 1900.**

"Ah, so it's Pearl of the Gem-Knights," Dara said. "I knew there was a reason this duel was going to be interesting."

"If you say so," Pearl said. "I set three cards and end my turn."

"Oh, I say so and you'll see after this. I draw," Dara said. "I summon Constellar Pollux in attack mode." **Constellar Pollux – ATK: 1700.**

"Constellar?!" Garnet and Pearl said at the same time.

"As in the Knights of the Stars?" Pearl asked.

"You understand now, don't you?" Dara asked. "The Constellar were called on by the Gem-Knights in the face of battle for assistance."

"Dara of the Constellar," Pearl said, grinning. "I knew there was a reason I liked you." Both girls bowed respectfully to each other. This would be a great duel.

"My turn's not over yet," Dara said. "When Pollux is summoned, I can normal summon once more this turn. So say hello to Constellar Acubens." **Constellar Acubens – DEF: 2000.**

"So cool," Pearl said.

"That's not all," Dara said. "When Acubens is summoned, all Constellar monsters on my field gain five hundred attack points for this turn." **Pollux – ATK: 2200.**

"Garnet!" Pearl said.

"Pollux attack!" Dara said. Pollux struck with his twin blade sword and Garnet exploded. Pearl only took three hundred points of damage, but losing Garnet was a bigger blow to her.

"I end my turn," Dara said. Pearl drew her card and glanced through her hand.

_"I could've activated Justi-Break last turn when she attacked, but I want to see what she's got and destroying her monsters before she can show me is pointless," _Pearl told herself. In her hand, Sardonyx's spirit spoke to her.

_"Milady, allow me to get revenge for Garnet,"_ he said. _"His sacrifice will not be in vain."_ Pearl nodded and a glint returned to her eye.

"I summon Gem-Knight Sardonyx in attack mode," Pearl said. **Sardonyx – ATK: 1800.** "Next I equip him with Supervise."

"What's that do?" Dara asked.

"This can only be equipped to a Gemini monster and allows it to use its effect," Pearl explained. "Next I activate my spell card Banner of Courage. This means that during my battle phase, all my monsters gain two hundred attack points. And that means trouble for you. Sardonyx, attack Pollux!" **Sardonyx – ATK: 2000.** Sardonyx struck with his chain mace and Pollux was destroyed. Their scores were tied at thirty-seven life points each.

"I salute your knights," Dara commented. "They truly live up to their name and their reputations."

"Thank you," Pearl said. "I must say, after all I've heard, I've been waiting for a chance to meet the Constellar. Guess this battle is to decide which of us holds the better knights."

"I guess so, but I should warn you that the light always prevails," Dara said.

"I trust my knights," Pearl said.

"And I trust mine," Dara agreed. "Prepare yourself, Pearl of the Gem-Knights, this will be the greatest duel of your life."

"Bring it on, Dara of the Constellar," Pearl said. It was clear that these two girls would hold nothing back in this duel of the earth and stars.

"I draw," Jaden said. "This is where it gets serious. I activate Polymerization. With this I fuse Avian with Burstinatrix in my hand and fusion summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" **Flame Wingman – ATK: 2100.**

"You really are a hero fan, aren't you?" Maurice asked.

"You know it. Heroes are the best!" Jaden said.

"You'll accept that I disagree," Maurice said.

"You're opinion," Jaden said. "But let's see if I can change your mind. Flame Wingman, attack Command Knight! Flame Wingman attacked and easily destroyed Command Knight, giving Maurice five hundred points of damage.

"Ouch," Maurice said.

"It gets worse, because when Flame Wingman destroys a monster, you take that monster's attack points as damage, and with Command Knight's effect to raise her attack points, you take all sixteen hundred points," Jaden explained. Maurice was left with only eleven hundred life points left.

"How'd you like that?" Jaden asked.

"Actually, I was waiting for that," Maurice admitted.

"You were?" Jaden questioned.

"Ya, cause now I can do this!" Maurice said as he drew his card. "I summon Don Zaloog in attack mode." **Don Zaloog – ATK: 1400.**

"I know what's coming next," Jaden admitted.

"You're right to be cautious," Maurice said. "I activate the spell card Mustering of the Dark Scorpions. Now I can summon all other Dark Scorpion monsters from my hand so say hello to Chick the Yellow, Gorg the Strong, Meanae the Thorn and Cliff the Trap Remover." **Chick the Yellow – ATK: 1000. Gorg the Strong – ATK: 1800. Meanae the Thorn – ATK: 1000. Cliff the Trap Remover – ATK: 1200.**

"That's some army you've got there," Jaden complimented.

"Don't seem impressed, cause it's bad news for you when I activate my trap card Dark Scorpion Combination," Maurice said. "Now all my Dark Scorpions can attack you directly, but you only take four hundred points of damage for each attack."

_"And face the wrath of their special abilities,"_ Jaden thought. _"These guys didn't go easy on Chazz when he fought them."_

"Well boys and girl, get one with it," Maurice said. Jaden took all their attacks and the two thousand points of damage that came with it.

"Now for their abilities," Maurice said. "By Gorg the Strong's effect, I return one monster to the top of your deck. Flame Wingman, it's been real."

"Oh now, Wingman!" Jaden said as his favorite monster disappeared.

"Chick the Yellow allows me to return one card to your hand, so Clayman has to say goodbye," Maurice continued.

"Clayman," Jaden said, returning the card to his hand.

"Don Zaloog makes you discard one card from your hand to the graveyard," Maurice stated. Jaden discarded Clayman with a sigh. "Cliff the Trap Remover takes the top two cards in your deck and sends them to the graveyard." Jaden checked the top two cards in his deck.

"Partner," Jaden said as he discarded them.

"And finally, Meanae the Thorn lets me add one card from my graveyard to my hand, but it has to be a Dark Scorpion card. I know just the one too," Maurice said. "I set two cards and end my turn."

_"I know which one he added too; Dark Scorpion Combination. A dangerous trap for me, even if I can keep a monster on the field, he can use it to attack me directly and with my life points already down to eighteen hundred, I don't stand a chance against them. There has to be a way to win this in my next turn,"_ Jaden said to himself.

"I draw," he said. He checked his card and his hand and smiled, he could win. "You're strategy to get me to discard cards is about to be turned against you."

"What do you mean?" Maurice asked.

"When you activated Gorg's effect, you had me send Necroshade to the graveyard. Well when he's in the graveyard, I can normal summon a high level elemental hero monster once, so say hello to Elemental Hero Neos!" Jaden said. **Neos – ATK: 2500.**

"Oh boy," Maurice said.

"It gets worse, cause I activate Contact Soul," Jaden said. "This lets me summon a Neo-Spacian from my hand, deck or graveyard and I choose Flare Scarab." **Flare Scarab – ATK: 500.** Jaden was ready for his finishing move. "Neos, Flare Scarab, contact fusion!"

"What are you doing?" Maurice asked.

"Neo-Spacians don't need a Polymerization card to fuse, so say hello to Elemental Hero Flare Neos," Jaden said. "He gains four hundred attack points for every Spell and Trap card on the field." **Flare Neos – ATK: 2500 + 800 = 3300.**

"Oh no," Maurice said.

"That's right, so Flare Neos, attack Don Zaloog!" Jaden said. Flare Neos attacked and easily destroyed Don Zaloog, dishing out nineteen hundred points of damage for Jaden's win.

"That's game," Jaden said. "You're a great duellist."

"I guess I still need some practice," Maurice said. Jaden grinned. He was in the finals.

"Because Sardonyx destroyed your monster and sent it to the graveyard, I get to add one Gem-Knight card from my deck to my hand," Pearl said. "Your turn."

"Thank you, I draw," Dara said. "I summon Constellar Siat in defense mode. I set one card and end my turn." **Siat – DEF: 1600.**

"Aw, isn't he cute," Pearl said, gazing at the little machine type monster carrying a pitcher that was almost twice his size.

"He's many things, but cute isn't one of them," Dara said. "Are you going to take your turn?"

"Right," Pearl said, drawing her card. "First I'll activate Pot of Greed to add two more cards to my hand." Pearl drew two more cards and glanced through her hand.

_"Milady, use me,"_ Sardonyx said. _"Return Garnet and send me in his place."_ Pearl was impressed with his willingness and her only response was a solemn nod.

"Alright, I activate Gem-Knight fusion!" Pearl declared. "I send Sardonyx and Emerald to the graveyard to fusion summon Gem-Knight Citrine!" **Citrine – ATK: 2200.** "However, because Supervise was sent to the graveyard, I can special summon one Gem-Knight normal monster from my graveyard and I choose to re-summon Gem-Knight Garnet!" Pearl said. **Garnet – ATK: 1900.**

"I'm in trouble aren't I?" Dara asked.

"That depends," Pearl said. "Citrine," **Citrine – ATK: 2400.** "Attack Acubens! Molten Citrine!"

"I activate–"

"No you don't," Pearl interrupted. "When Citrine attacks, you can't activate any spells or traps until the end of the damage step." Acubens was easily destroyed. Pearl paused here and looked at the facedown card Dara possessed. "I'll set a card and end my turn."

"Very well, play it safe then," Dara said as she drew her card. "I'll sacrifice Siat to summon Constellar Virgo." **Constellar Virgo – ATK: 2300.** "When Virgo is summoned, I can special summon one level five or higher Constellar monster from my hand, so say hello to Zubeneschamali." **Zubeneschamali – ATK: 2100.**

"That's a mouthful right there," Pearl said.

"Took me forever to pronounce his name, but I finally can," Dara said. "When he's summoned I can add one Constellar monster from my deck to my hand. Now for my attacks. First I activate my trap card, Constellar Meteor."

"What's that do?" Pearl asked.

"It's simple, when a monster battles a Constellar monster, during the damager step, that monster is returned to the deck and the deck is then shuffled," Dara said. "Virgo, attack Citrine." Virgo did as she was told and Citrine exploded.

"No Citrine," Pearl said.

"Now for Garnet, Zubeneschamali, he's all yours," Dara said. The second Constellar monster attacked and Garnet was returned to the deck while Pearl took three hundred points of damage. Neither of them were dishing out much damage. Both girls still had over three thousand life points. All around them, duels came to their conclusions and winners were announced. Pearl realized that if she didn't do something major this might take a long, long time to finish.

"You're turn, Pearl," Dara said. "Show me what the knights of the earth can do."

"I will, with this," Pearl said, drawing. Incidentally, she unleashed a small amount of her power causing a strong breeze that ruffled Dara's hair and caused her eyes to widen. The train was almost back to its starting location. Pearl had to finish quickly, but with two strong monsters staring her down and no monsters on her field, she had very little to work with. Pearl looked at the card she'd drawn. It was Gem-Knight Tourmaline, a knight with sixteen hundred attack points.

_"Even with Banner of Courage, he doesn't come close to her monsters,"_ Pearl thought. Tourmaline's spirit appeared from the card then.

_"You have all the cards you need to win this, milady,"_ he said. _"The Constellar are powerful and our friends, but they are not unbeatable and for you, we will win."_

_ "But how?"_ Pearl asked. _"All I have on my field is…"_ Pearl stopped as she remembered her facedown cards. She looked at her hand and smiled. Everything was there.

_"We are with you, milady,"_ Tourmaline said.

_"Thank you,"_ Pearl said. The she turned her attention to the duel.

"Alright, here's how this is going to work," Pearl said. "First, I'll activate Monster Reborn to re-summon Garnet to the field." **Garnet – ATK: 1900.**

"Him again?" Dara asked.

"Yes, again," Pearl said. "Next I activate my trap card Take One Chance. With this, one random card is added from my graveyard to my hand, but I have to use it right away no matter what."

"That's a pretty big risk," Dara said.

"Why do you think the card is called Take One Chance?" Pearl asked. The card appeared and Pearl was incredibly thankful to her deck for making the right choice. "I activate the Gem-Knight Fusion I got back from my graveyard. With this I'll fuse Garnet with Tourmaline in my hand and Fusion summon Gem-Knight Topaz!" **Topaz – ATK: 1800.**

"He still can't beat my monsters, even with your Banner of Courage," Dara pointed out.

"You forget, Dara of the Constellar, I have one more card on my field," Pearl said. Dara gasped as Pearl activated the card.

"It's called Burden of the Mighty and it lowers your monster's attack points by one hundred points times their level," Pearl explained.

"Oh on," Dara said as her monster's attack points were lowered. **Virgo – ATK: 1800. Zubeneschamali – AKT: 1600.**

"Oh and before I attack," Pearl said. "You should know that Topaz can attack twice during a battle phase. Topaz, go for it! Double Topaz Thunder Shock!" Dara watched both her monsters die in battle and was a little shocked when Pearl deactivated her duel disk and the train slowed.

"Wait, I have life points left," Dara said.

"No you don't," Pearl said. "Topaz's final ability means that you take damage equal to your monster's attack points that were destroyed this turn." Dara's life points diminished and she laughed.

"I guess that's the end of Dara of the Constellar," she said.

"Not at all," Pearl said. "That was an amazing duel and I'm glad to have met you."

"Same," Dara said. Both girls detached themselves from the train and approached to shake hands.

"I hope to meet you again sometime," Pearl said.

"Same goes for you," Dara said. "Listen Pearl; the reason I joined this tournament was to see if the Steelswarms were trying to make a comeback. I thought that me and my Constellars could ensure that they were kept down, but the Gem-Knights know of their evil."

"They know it all too well," Pearl agreed.

"If the Steelswarms are here, can I count on you to destroy them?" Dara asked.

"Anything for a fellow knight," Pearl said. Dara smiled.

"I knew I'd like you," she said. "I'll see you at the finales." With that the blonde haired girl hurried away and left Pearl feeling accepted.

_"You see, milady,"_ Garnet said to her. _"It's not hard to make friends when you have something in common."_

"True, but she still doesn't know about my powers," Pearl said. "I almost lost control back there, I could feel it."

_"But you didn't and that's a good sign that you're gaining control,"_ Garnet said. He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked at her beyond his helmet that covered his eyes. _"We are proud to serve you, milady."_

"Thank you, Garnet," Pearl said. The red armored knight disappeared and a voice came over the park's PA system.

_"Would all finalists please report to the duel stadium,"_ Mr. Phool said. Pearl didn't waste any more time as she hurried in the direction of the stadium.

Pearl wasn't surprised to see Jaden on the stage with six other finalists waiting for what was to come next. The Slifer Red boy greeted her with a smile.

"Hey Pearl, glad to see you made it," he said. "We might get our rematch in the finals."

"Don't expect me to go easy on you," Pearl teased. Mr. Phool glanced at the competitors who stood behind him and nodded in approval. This would be an interesting finale.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he greeted. "May I present to you your finalists; Samael Barrett, Lux Dalton, Ophir Frost, Nazar Haight, Pearl Lite, Arlen Palmer, Jaden Yuki and our returning champion for three years, Fay Robbins!" The cheers from the crowd almost deafened Pearl, but she stood tall and smiled. Jaden was waving his arms like he was a celebrity and Pearl chuckled to herself. He certainly wasn't one who was easily embarrassed.

"Wish them luck as they embark on their final journey tomorrow at noon," Mr. Phool said. He then turned to the contestants and smiled. "Good luck," he said.

"We'll need it against Fay," the boy named Arlen said.

"You boys are way too negative," said the girl, Lux. "I'll see you tomorrow." With that she jumped off the stage and hurried into the crowd. Pearl gazed at the competition and wondered which one of them could possibly hold a deck of Steelswarms. They all seemed nice enough, although she did sense something was wrong with at least one of them. However, she didn't dwell as Jaden started to pull her off the stage, saying something about being hungry. Pearl grinned and followed him off the stage and into the swarm of people. Everyone was trying to get out at the same time and Pearl finally lost sight of Jaden.

"Jaden," she called through the ruckus. "Jaden Yuki where are you?" An arm grabbed hers and started to pull her away from the crowd. Pearl had no idea whether it was Jaden, but she didn't care at that moment. She felt like she was being trampled and only wanted to get away. Finally, the crowd thinned and Pearl could stand still without being bumped and pushed.

"Thanks," she said. When she looked up, she was surprised to see that the person who had grabbed her was not Jaden, but a beautiful fortune teller that she'd seen the other day in a booth.

"You have to be careful, child," she said. "You never know who could find you."

"Thank you for the advice," Pearl said, respectfully. The woman grabbed her arm and gazed at her palm.

"Yes, you must be very careful," she said. "You will face many hardships in your life and a future that is not as you expect."

"Tell me something I don't know," Pearl said, pulling away from her.

"You will be betrayed by one who is shrouded in darkness," she continued. "Yet you will not realize it until it is too late. Take this warning my dear. Beware the one you trust." Pearl was startled by this. Could what the strange man had said yesterday be true? Was Jaden going to betray her? What was she supposed to do? Pearl looked back and tried to find the woman, but she had disappeared and Pearl was left alone…or rather thought she was. Pharaoh suddenly brushed up against her leg and Pearl picked him up.

"There you are, Pearl," Jaden said, hurrying up behind her. "I lost you back there. Are you alright?"

"Ya…I'm fine," Pearl said, staring at the spot where the woman had been. "Let's get something to eat."

"I'm way ahead of you," Jaden said. With that he led the way across the fair with Pearl following deep in thought. She now had two warnings from two different people. Were they connected? Or perhaps there was more than one person she needed to worry about.

* * *

Well, did you like it? Send me a message and tell me what you think. Also to Shadgirl2, for some reason I can't message you back, so if you have any suggestions, don't be afraid to send them. All are welcome. I'll upload soon...hopefully, or maybe I'll just keep you in suspense for a while! Hhhmmm, I like that idea...be patient, it shouldn't be that long.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's my next chapter. There is a duel in this one so bare with it, but I think you'll enjoy my little surprise.

* * *

Chapter 9:

The Castle Maze Part 1: Rise of Dark World

Pearl's dreams had gotten no better from the night before. Faceless men in white clothing surrounded her as machines buzzed and beeped in her ears. Pearl struggled to get away but she couldn't move.

_"He can't be trusted,"_ said a voice.

_"You will be betrayed,"_ said another.

_"You don't have to live with the scars…memories."_

_ "Beware the one you trust."_

_ "He cannot be trusted." _

"Go away!" Pearl screamed. Suddenly she sat up and found Jaden sitting beside her. Pearl gasped for breath as she watched paper begin to settle around the room. Her powers had taken over her while she slept and the room was now a mess.

"Easy," Jaden said. "Deep breaths and try to slow your heart rate." Pearl did as she was told, which only took a minute, and finally relaxed.

"I…I'm sorry Jaden," she said. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No, your powers weren't more than a breeze that ruffled some papers," Jaden assured. "That's all. Now, since we're up, what do you say we start on our decks. Or would you rather take a shower first?" Pearl was slightly confused. He wasn't even asking any questions about why she'd lost control of her powers.

"You're not going to ask questions?" Pearl asked.

"Questions are pointless when you already have the answers," Jaden said. "Obviously, you were having nightmares about your time in the facility." Pearl bent her head, realizing she must've not hidden it well. "Don't worry," Jaden continued. "You can talk to me about it when you're ready. Until then, is it shower or deck first?"

"I'll work on my deck first," Pearl said. Jaden grinned.

"Alright then," he said. "I'll be out in a jiffy." Pearl chuckled. No one said "jiffy" anymore. But Pearl just shook her head and took out her deck as Jaden locked himself in the bathroom for the next ten minutes.

After Pearl got out of the shower, they were both ready to embark on their final adventure in the Casper City Annual Duel Carnival…or was it a fair? Either way, the two of them ate a slow breakfast, as check in that day wouldn't be until eleven thirty. As they ate, Jaden started telling stories of his friends back when he was in Duel Academy. Pearl laughed at his jokes and asked questions as he switched from one friend to the next. Pearl felt like she could relate to him in some way. True, her friends included Jaden, her family and Justin, but a lot of the stories sounded almost familiar. By the time they left in the cab to the fair, Pearl felt as though his friends were her friends.

The two of them reached the park grounds as they had the past two days and checked in before they noticed something incredible; a giant castle sat directly in the center of the park. It was quite a sight and both duellists guessed this was to be their final journey in the tournament. Before they reached it, however, Jaden pulled Pearl aside and looked at her very seriously.

"Something wrong?" Pearl asked.

"No, but we should probably skip town when this tournament is over," Jaden said.

"Why?" Pearl asked. "Is there something wrong here?"

"I'm sure," Jaden said. "Oberon has to be closing in soon. He'll reveal himself soon enough, but we want to keep one step ahead of him, alright?"

"Okay," Pearl agreed.

"Good, now we've got a tournament to win," Jaden said.

"Agreed, let's do it!" Pearl said. The two of them hurried in the direction of the castle. The other duellists were already there. A red headed boy Pearl recognized as Arlen was the first to notice them.  
"Hey, here they are," he said. Ophir, a dark haired boy looked up and waved while Lux, a sandy haired girl grinned.

"Did someone sleep in?" she asked.

"No, just taking our time," Jaden said.

"Guess you'll need all the time you can get to prepare," Nazar said. This boy was also dark haired, like Ophir, but not quite as shaggy. Samael, a dark blonde boy, just sat completely still as though he were a statue and not actually alive. Fay, a blonde haired girl just grinned and placed a hand on both their shoulders.

"Come on," she said. "This is a tournament, so let's have some fun."

"Now you're speaking my language," Jaden said. Pearl just shook her head as Mr. Phool approached them to count heads.

"Good, everyone is here," he said. "Now, you will each be shown the gate where you will enter the castle maze and try to find your way through to the top. Whoever you meet first will be your opponent. Do you understand?" Everyone nodded before Mr. Phool assigned some of the assistants to lead them to their separate starting points. Just barely a minute later, Mr. Phool's face could be seen on every screen around the theme park.

_"Good day ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the finales of our Duelling Carnival," _Mr. Phool greeted. _"Today, our eight remaining competitors will face the Castle Maze; a dangerous place full of traps and surprises. Each duellist will have to face off against each other as they try and make their way to the throne room at the top. Now, to reintroduce you to our eight finalists. Entering from the castle draw bridge, Pearl Lite. Ready to scale Rapunzel's hair up the climbing wall, I give you Ophir Frost. Preparing himself for the deep dark of the dungeon, Samael Barrett. In the back with the garden maze, starting at opposite ends, Fay Robbins and Lux Dalton. Starting at the stables, Jaden Yuki. Ready to slide in from the barracks, Arlen Palmer. And finally, entering from the castle graveyard, Nazar Haight."_ Each duellist waved as their name was called, except for Samael, and prepared to enter the castle.

_"Duellists ready,"_ Mr. Phool called. _"And go!"_ Pearl and Jaden plunged into the castle, unaware of what they would find and a single man in the crowd watching them with a malicious grin and greedy eyes. He could wait, he decided. After all, what was a mere four hours of duelling to the great Oberon when he had a life time of success ahead of him? Yes, he would wait and give them a few hours of enjoyment; after all, it would be their last.

Jaden had no idea of where to go inside the castle. Everything was so big that it made him feel like he was five years old again. Suits of armor lined the red carpet corridor along with doors that led to nowhere. When Mr. Phool had called it a castle maze, he wasn't kidding. Yubel's spirit appeared beside him and gazed around the hallway.

"They certainly went all out on this fair, didn't they?" she asked.

"I wish they'd at least given us a map," Jaden agreed. "I don't even know which direction the throne room is in."

"It's up," Yubel said. "He said it was at the top."

"Not helping Yubel," Jaden said. He knew that Yubel was trying to help and he was happy about that, but stating the obvious was something he normally did, but at the moment he didn't need the obvious, he needed help finding his way around the castle. First of all, he needed to find the stairs to go up, but the hallway went on forever it seemed like. Of course, there were a few things that stood out; like the suits of armor that seemed to watch his every move – they probably had cameras so the audience could watch, but it was still unnerving – and certain sections of the rug that were cut off, as though there was a trap door underneath it.

Now, technically a trap door goes down and Jaden knew that the throne room was not going to be down there, but it could help him find a stairway so he could get up. Besides, it might be fun. So Jaden stepped on one and sure enough fell onto a slide and slid into the dark.

_"Oh and it looks like Jaden has found our dungeon trap door,"_ Mr. Phool's voice said.

_"Dungeon?"_ Jaden thought. _"Not exactly what I was hoping for."_ It was a long way down that ended suddenly causing Jaden to flip head over heels and rolled across a stone floor. When he stopped he laid still and tried to catch his breath.

_"Are you alright?" _Yubel asked. Now that was the dumbest question in the world that anyone could ask. Who on earth would be alright after that?  
"Ya, I only landed on my head," Jaden said, slightly annoyed.

_"At least it wasn't something important,"_ Yubel teased.

"Oh, shut up, Yubel," Jaden said. "I use my head…when I find the need." Yubel chuckled but soon realized that they weren't the only ones in the dungeon.

_"We're not alone down here,"_ she said. _"Be careful, Jaden."_ Jaden looked around the dungeon; a dimly lit room of stone complete with bars and chains and even a skeleton hanging on the far wall. It took him a moment to get his eyes to adjust to the light, but they finally did and he could see another contestant standing against the wall. Jaden recognized it to be Samael, the blonde kid who didn't seem to speak.

"Hey Samael," Jaden greeted. "Guess we have to duel now, don't we?" Samael didn't say anything. His eyes appeared to be quite dim and lifeless. Something wasn't right.

"Well, let's get our game on, Samael," Jaden encouraged. Samael's response was to activate his duel disk. Now Jaden was concerned. No threat, not voice, no reaction, who was this kid? Still, Jaden activated his duel disk and drew five cards.

"Let's duel," he said. Samael drew his card, indicating that he wanted to go first, and Jaden watched as he placed it in his hand and summoned a monster he had hoped never to see again. **Brron, Mad King of Dark World – ATK: 1800.**

"Greetings Jaden," Brron greeted with a malicious chuckle in his voice. "Did you find your friend?"

"Brron?!" Jaden said. He remembered the last time he'd seen the Mad King of Dark World, it was just before he became the Supreme King, when he had used his friends as sacrifices to try and complete the Super Polymerization card that Jaden still had.

"But I sent you to the stars myself," Jaden said. "How…?"

"How am I able to be here?" Brron asked. "You forget that the duel monster's cards are linked to the duel monster spirit realm. While I might have been banished to another dimension, my card remains in this one and thus allows my spirit to be summoned for a short time during a duel. Luckily for those of us in Dark World, this boy Samael came to possess all of our cards in one deck. Unfortunately for him, the dark powers caused his spirit to go into slumber making him the perfect vessel."

"So, Samael is actually comatose?" Jaden asked. The boy seemed completely unaware of everything going on around him, as though he were sleep-walking. "What do you need him for?" Jaden asked.

"Like I said, our spirits were banished to another dimension," Brron explained. "We might be able to escape if we can defeat the person who put us there. That'd be you." Jaden grimaced and prepared for the onslaught that was sure to come next. He had hoped this tournament would be fun; instead he would be fighting for his life against the person who'd sent four of his friends to the stars and awakened the Supreme King's spirit. At the moment though, Jaden was just glad that he had Yubel, because if he didn't, he might just lose control again. No one really knew this, but Yubel often helped to keep Jaden grounded when he wanted to break lose, so to speak.

"Bring it on Brron," Jaden challenged. "I'm ready for you."

"It wouldn't matter if you weren't, you're not getting out of this," Brron said. "Since Samael is a little out of it at the moment, I'll be making the calls."

"It's not going to help you," Jaden said. Brron just grinned, a truly terrible sight to say the least.

"I'll activate The Gates of Dark World field spell," Brron said. "With this all fiend-type monsters gain three hundred attack and defense points." **Brron – ATK: 2100.** "I'll end with two cards face down," he finished. "Your turn, Haou."

"Don't call me that," Jaden said as he drew his card.

_"Think this through Jaden,"_ Yubel warned. _"Our main objective should be to wake up Samael's spirit."_

_ "You don't have to tell me, Yubel,"_ Jaden said. _"The last thing I want is to get Samael involved in something that he doesn't even know is happening. It's the how that worries me. I don't have any monsters in my hand and no cards that can help me with Brron. I've got to get rid of this field spell, it's the only choice I have. Until I can do that, however…"_

"I set three cards and end my turn," Jaden said out loud.

"That's all?" Brron asked. He looked at Jaden carefully. "Seems like you were dealt a bad hand, weren't you? Let's see what we can do about that. I draw." Samael drew a card like an obedient zombie and Brron considered his options.

"I'll activate a trap card called Dark Scheme," he decided. "If you want, you can discard a card to negate its effect; otherwise we both discard two cards and draw two cards. Your choice." Jaden gazed at this trap card. While he didn't want Brron to gain the upper hand by drawing a winning card, he needed a card that could help him. Brron was taking a big chance by activating this card, but Jaden would be taking just as big a chance if he allowed it to continue. Then again, where's the fun if you don't take a chance?

"I'll allow it," Jaden decided. Both of them discarded two cards and drew two cards.

"Now then, I'll summon Zure, Knight of Dark World in attack mode," Brron said. **Zure, Knight of Dark World – ATK: 1800 + 300 = 2100.** Jaden remembered Zure as well. He was the first real challenge he'd faced after entering Dark World, not counting Harpie's Brother that he'd faced in a parallel world or Scarr, who'd just been a dumb lump of red armor. Jaden grinned slightly. Maybe he could still have fun, after all Brron had just given Jaden the advantage, whether he knew it or not.

"Zure, attack Jaden directly," Brron ordered. Zure charged, sword ready with twenty-one hundred attack points to take out a chunk of Jaden's life points. All it would take was two attacks and Jaden would lose, but where was the fun of going down without a fight.

"I activate my trap card; Draining Shield," Jaden declared.

"WHAT?" Brron asked. Jaden grinned and rubbed his nose as he often did when his opponent fell into his trap.

"With this, I now gain life points equal to Zure's attack points," Jaden said with a smirk. His life points rose to sixty-one hundred and Brron was left absolutely enraged.

"Fine then I'll attack you!" the Mad King declared.

"Afraid that won't work either," Jaden said. "I activate a Hero Emerges. Now you have to pick a card from my hand and if it's a monster I can summon it. Make your pick."

_"He must've had a monster in his hand that needed sacrifices to be summoned,"_ Brron thought. _"Too bad he doesn't realize that my final facedown card is Trap Hole. If it had more than a thousand attack points, it can be destroyed and if it's not a monster, Jaden is still left with no monsters and I can get in a clean attack. He's got three cards in his hand, so…"_

"The middle one," Brron said. Jaden checked.

"Alright, you picked Dandylion!" he said. Dandylion appeared on the field in defense mode. **Dandylion – ATK: 300, DEF: 300.** Brron cursed himself silently, but wasn't willing to give up.

"I'm still going to attack it," Brron said. He did and Dandylion was easily destroyed.

"Fine, but I get to summon two Fluff Tokens in defense mode," Jaden pointed out. "Plus because you attacked, I get to activate my final trap Hero Signal. Now I can add one level four or lower Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand."

"I end my turn," Brron grunted.

"My turn, I draw," Jaden said. He viewed his options before eyeing the facedown card Brron had. "I'll start by activating Mystical Space Typhoon," the red-coated boy declared. Brron let out a cry of dismay when his facedown card Trap Hole disappeared.

"You little brat," Brron cursed. Jaden just smirked.

"Now I can sacrifice my two tokens to summon Elemental Hero Neos in attack mode," Jaden explained. **Elemental Hero Neos – ATK: 2500. **"Neos, attack Zure!" Jaden ordered. Neos did what he was told, easily destroying Zure and dealing four hundred points of damage to Samael, who didn't even flinch.

"You'll pay for that," Brron promised.

"Fine, make me," Jaden countered with a grin. "I set a card to end my turn." Brron growled as Jaden looked at him with his happy demeanor. Someone had to put this Slifer boy in his place and Brron was going to make sure that it was him.

"Samael, draw our card," Brron ordered. Like a good little puppet, Samael did as he was told. "I'll activate the second effect of The Gates of Dark World. By banishing one fiend-type monster from my graveyard and discarding one from my hand, I can draw an extra card. Now, I summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World in attack mode," Brron said. **Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World – ATK: 1600 + 300 = 1900.**

"What good does that do?" Jaden asked, smartly. "He can't beat Neos."

"That's right, but now I can activate the effect of Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World that I just discarded to the graveyard," Brron stated. Jaden knew he was in trouble now. "With his effect," Brron continued. "By returning one Dark World monster to my hand I can special summon Grapha from my graveyard. So Beiige returns and Grapha comes out." **Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World – ATK: 2700 + 300 = 3000.** This dragon was terrifyingly huge and clearly angry.

"Oh no," Jaden said, quietly.

"For you maybe," Brron taunted. "Grapha, attack Haou!"

"Stop calling me that!" Jaden demanded. Neos did his best, but couldn't stand up to three thousand attack points. Jaden's life points dove to fifty-six hundred and he still had an attack coming his way. **Brron – ATK: 2100.**

"Here I come," Brron said. Jaden eyed his facedown card but let out a cry as he took even more damage. Brron laughed manically as Jaden picked himself up off the stone floor.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you?" Brron asked. "I'm not finished yet. I activate the Spell Card Ante."

"What?" Jaden asked. "I've never heard of that card before."

"Well this is how it works," Brron said. "We both reveal a card from our hand, a monster with the higher level wins, none monster cards are treated as level zero and the loser sends the card to the grave and takes one thousand points of damage."

"Seriously?" Jaden asked. He looked at his hand. The only monster he had in his hand was Grand Mole, a level three monster.

"So, reveal your card," Brron said. Jaden revealed Grand Mole. "Only a level three, huh? Well, I'll reveal Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark world, level five." Jaden sent Grand Mole to the graveyard and let out a scream as he lost yet another thousand life points. He was left with twenty-five hundred. If he didn't make it through his next turn, he'd be toast. He had to end it this turn.

"I draw," Jaden said. "I'll activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Jaden glanced at the cards. "I'll also activate Convert Contact. By discarding one Neo-spacian from my hand and one from my deck, I can draw two more cards. Next, with the effect of Cocoon Party that I just drew, I can summon one chrysalis monster for each Neo-spacian in my graveyard, so say hello to Chrysalis Dolphin, Chrysalis Pantail, and Chrysalis Chicky."

"Those weaklings will be unable to cause me any damage," Brron laughed. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking it's time for a change of scenery," Jaden said. He held up a card and Brron gasped. "I activate the field spell Neo-Space." Brron's card broke and became a field of multicolored light. "Now, by sacrificing my chrysalises while Neo-Space is active, I can summon their Neo-Spacian counter parts." **Air Hummingbird – ATK: 800. Dark Panther – ATK: 1000. Aqua Dolphin – ATK: 600. Brron – ATK: 1800. Grapha – ATK: 2700.** Brron growled at his new attack points.

"You'll pay for that!" threatened the Mad King.

"No, you'll pay for using Samael as a tool," Jaden said. "I sacrifice Panther and Dolphin to summon Yubel!" Brron went silent – a first for him – as Yubel appeared on the field, gracefully. **Yubel – ATK: 0.**

"Jaden, I'll make sure he pays," she promised. Jaden nodded.  
"Next I'll activate my trap card Call of the Haunted to bring back Neos," Jaden declared. **Neos – ATK: 2500.**

"Neos, Air Hummingbird, contact fusion," Jaden ordered. The two monsters rose into the air and came back down as Elemental Hero Air Neos. **Air Neos – ATK: 2500.**

"Now, because my life points are lower than yours, Air Neos gets the difference as attack points and that mean that he's more than strong enough to destroy your Grapha," Jaden said. "Do it Neos." Neos did and Brron was left with nine hundred life points.

"Yubel, time to attack Brron," Jaden said.

"Gladly," she said. "It's been a while since you let me have fun."

"Just attack already," Jaden said, slightly annoyed. Yubel did and Brron didn't need to be told that her effect dealt all damage to him. Brron was out of life points and Samael was free from his comatose. Yubel faded, returning to Jaden's soul as the red clad boy hurried to Samael before the blonde kid fell to the ground. He opened his eyes and groggily sat up.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You were dueling in your sleep man," Jaden said. Samael looked at Jaden and placed a hand to his head.

"Awe man, not again," he said. Jaden had to restrain himself from laughing. That certainly wasn't the reply he'd been expecting.

"Did I win?" he asked.

"No, but it was close," Jaden admitted. "That's game. I'm sure you can find your way out."

"Ya, thanks," Samael said. Jaden quickly located the stairs up and out of the dungeon and began to continue his search for the throne room.

_"And it looks like Samael is out of the competition and Jaden is moving on. Stay tuned to see how our six other finalists play their cards and who will win!"_ Mr. Phool said. Jaden listened to this as he found another set of stairs leading up. Who knew what other kind of surprises awaited him and Pearl at the top.

* * *

Woah right? Did you expect that? Are you anxious to see how Pearl will do in her duel? Well, to bad you have to wait. Hopefully, it won't take me as long writing that one as it did with this one. Comment, follow, favorite, criticize, and go catch a squirrel. Or maybe you should have a bagel and cream cheese! Ya, I like that. Bye for now.


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